


The Panda Hero's Last Stand

by akumapearl



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: (gangsters sounds like a dumb way to put it but like what else...do i call it?), Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, F/F, Panda Hero, also theres way more characters and ships but theyre in the bg, please be aware that theres a lot of negative self talk and self destructive behavior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6115108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akumapearl/pseuds/akumapearl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>OLD and BAD based sorta on Kaiba and sorta on the Panda Hero song--it's gumimiku and wont be finished (probably)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hunger for a Change of Pace

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by the Panda Hero MV, the anime 'Kaiba', and the fic 'Knight in Rusted Armor' NanakiBH.
> 
> I wrote this for fun, and its my first time writing since the one shot stuff i did in middle school! (by that i mean don't take this to seriously because i doubt its even salvageable)

It was terribly dark in this city, the streets felt cold, and unwelcoming the neon signs curled at their edges into sinister smiles. _I don’t think I’m cut out for this_ the young blue haired girl thought to herself though she knew there were no other options than to traverse the city in hopes of finding safety. She had spent the last week selling her body to make pocket change since she was turned away by every business, nobody here had the money or the time to accept a new girl with no particular skills into their circles. She clenches her fist knowing this is really the only time she’s felt truly miserable…truly empty… _a month spent grasping at straws can really bring you down_ she frowned at this thought.

She’d also been an optimist but having to give yourself away for some cash that will only get stolen off of you was starting to destroy her outlook on life and her ability to stay grounded. The blue haired girl had become quite vigilant, she could she shadows upon shadows moving, shaking, suffering…like she was…hungry like she was…she decided to look for any empty stands that weren’t crowded with filthy men looking to have her this late at night.

Soon enough her eyes caught a small hole in the wall bar down the alley the writing was…Chinese? She was surprised to see the words of such an ancient language, she thought other languages were banned since humanity started colonizing other planets, but here thinking about trivial laws, she was getting ahead of herself! Her feet were moving towards the smell before anything else could register.

She ducked into the empty yellow lit shop focused completely on the smell of real food…none of the gel pouches and liquid packets of multicolored nutrients. “Oh, uh, we’re closing up soon.” Said the cyborg server behind the counter.

The server looked at the girl with scrutiny “Are you…hungry?” she nodded dumbly not sure how to control her body around the smell, all the pain her body was experiencing suddenly shot through her stomach with huge force. “Why don’t I grab some leftovers for you, you don’t look very…uh…never mind.” 

Before she knew it she was stuffing her face at break neck speed her mother’s soft but commanding face came to mind _“swallow your sadness.”_ She smiled knowing if she couldn’t do it figuratively she could do it literally. A soft voice mumbled behind the noise of shoveling food but she paid it no mind there was no room for anything else.

 It grew louder.

“Hey!”

The blue eyed beauty realized she wasn’t eating anymore, she was…on the floor? “Are you okay?! What’s going on” The cyborg shook her, no-

She puked. Everything disappeared for what felt like an instant.

 

\-------

 

She awoke with a start in a bed, she groaned hoping it wasn’t true but upon examination the bed wasn’t dirty or warm it was…just her… _I met up with a couple buyers yesterday…started looking for shelter at eight and…found-The tiny bar!_ She moved to get up but her body screamed at the movement. She yelped and recoiled back into the pillows.

“Ah! You’re awake!” The cyborg smiled at her nervously skirting around the room to push a glass of water towards her then went back to standing in the doorway.

“You, uh-“

“I know it’s-it’s-just thank you, I appreciate your hospitality…I was just hungry and there was so much I-I” She began to stammer _When was the last time I slept in a warm room?_ She grew quiet at that thought.

The girl began to inch closer “I’m Miki I work here but my uh-my boss, she’s out of town so I had you stay. What’s your nam-“

“Miku! I’m Miku…” It felt good to say that after using so many fake names for so many fake personalities.

“Oh we’re so close!” She laughed “Do you want me to escort you home? Once you can stand anyway, I’d be happy to give you a coupon too.”

_I don’t have one…but to say that…_ “No, I’m fine.” She winced as she stood “What time is it? I probably have to go to work.” _Partially true._

“Oh it’s midday by the looks of it, but you don’t look so good…” Miki grimaced at the girl’s dreadful attempt to walk to the door “Can I at least get you some food before you go? You won’t be of much use to anyone in a state like that.”

“Sure.” Miku grumbled following the red-headed cyborg _I’m not much use in the first place_ a voice akin to her own giggled in the back of her head. The cyborg began to ramble on about how the sleep cycles of 100% biological bodies are so “fascinating” Miku tuned out until there was a bowl of food in front of her, she ate slower this time remembering not to let the thick smell overwhelm her.

It was nothing like she’d eaten before it made her feel as though her body wasn’t empty for just a second before her mind bit away the joy with its constant reminders of what she should be doing instead of eating. The girl interrupted her thoughts “How’d you find this place…? You must have connections.”

Miku shook her head “No, no, no.” She chided through her stuffed cheeks before swallowing “I was looking for a place to eat and saw your lights on.” Miki looked as though she couldn’t believe it.

“Oh…you really were just hungry.” She pushed her face right up to the girl’s bright blue eyes.

“Uh…look you’re new here aren’t you?” The red head said tugging at her collar pensively.

“Yeah, what of it?”

The cyborg leaned in even closer “Well…” she whispered “You’ve seen the “gangs” right? It’s weird to call them that…They feel more threatening…anyway this is a trading post, for information, not a restaurant that’s just a front…”

“…eh?” Miku was a bit dumbfounded she’d been staying out of their territory this whole time just how to she end up on this side of town! “I see…then I suppose I should be even more grateful for your kindness.”

Miki giggled “Think nothing of it, we’re not all heartless!”

The cyborgs face began to frown “When my boss comes back you can’t come back here no matter what, It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry…I want to help you but…”

“But I think I know someone who can help you!” She surprised herself with the enthusiasm that came from that statement, she hopped out of her chair. “Go about your day as you would but I’ll meet you outside the club down the street at nightfall, be discreet tie up that hair it’s too recognizable.”

Miku zoned out again as she had begun cleaning the counters and chattering excitedly about what good ideas she was capable of. It was the first time Miku got a good look at her savior, she had long red hair with eyes to match and was wearing a clean white jump suit with a navy apron. Upon examination there was notable difference between the skin tones of her legs, arms, and hands along with different serial numbers and logos plastered onto them… _a caring Frankenstein_ …

“I’ll get going then.” Miku said with a smile cutting her off, it felt shockingly genuine, the idea of sleeping comfortably tonight was enough to put the worrying voice in the back of her head at bay. Miki waved quickly and continued tiding up happily.

The blue haired girl began to tiredly walk back to the other side of the city navigating the slums and back roads as best she could to avoid attention. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, how could she mooch customers off a club when all she could think about was a warm bed and maybe clean water…She didn’t want to crush this innocent hope after a month of becoming blind to faith, _my innocence is gone already there’s nothing I can do_. Somehow the voice in her head felt like a lie trying to drag her back, maybe the misery…the emptiness didn’t have to be forever…

She found herself in the alley way behind the “Love Club” but with no heart to go into the grimy place she sat staring into the wall of the building next door…everything was so tightly packed in this city, attached by webs of walk ways and outdoor elevators the people of these slums crawled about like ants in a hill of tunnels. Some people even vowed the buildings went beyond the clouds and that the wealthiest lived up there…but it was hard to see an inch in front of your nose with all this factory smoke…much less the sky. Through the dense fog traveled tinny voices, the television shop down the alley.

Miku lazily got to her feet and scooped herself up, her mind nagged her to get to work but the hopes in her heart wanted to spend this day flippantly. A quiet trot down the alley led her to a pack of children crowding around the TV stand…it was ridiculous really…the human race had such advanced tech but this planet had been overtaken for intergalactic tourism as an example of what Earth really was like hence old fashioned historical replicas…It didn’t last long until it was conquered by industry apparently.

These children weren’t bothered at all “ _ignorance is bliss”_ as her mother would’ve said. Cheering erupted as a choppy green haired girl with a sleazy smile appeared on screen it was captioned with…”Panada Hero” _How silly_ she thought to herself _probably a small scale criminal built up for media buzz_. The screen flashed to a stern looking strawberry blonde…maybe just strawberry actually.

“-In other words the “Panda Hero” must be apprehended at all costs, notorious for her violent behavior and constant humiliation of officers in our city she’s committed many unspeakable acts that- that can’t even be mentioned!” The woman grew tense and the children laughed as though it was a gag

“It she is turned into the police there will be a handsome reward, you’ll be able to obtain eternal beauty with the money we have to offer to someone how catches her.” The woman brushed her hair out of her face to reveal steely eyes “We will bring her to justice.” Miku’s eyes widened as she realized she was the chief of the police force…the horribly corrupt police force…as much as she wanted that money she couldn’t turn anyone into a clan of drug addicted fat cats. The television cut out at her last statement and switch to the over played nonsensical soaps that played all day every day. The kids scattered talking amongst themselves about the “Panda Hero.”

The name was so familiar…even though Miku had never seen a picture or listened long enough it was a name whispered in crowds that rose to the ceiling to sit in everyone’s minds…there was no escaping that name in this city. _I wonder who she could be_ she sat down and began toying with her hair _not like it matters or anything…it’s not important to me…_ This new found hope was making her attached to silly urban legends and thinking about the sky.

Her hair suddenly became much more interesting than her mind and she absorbed herself into playing with it, the dark alley was her couch for the next few hours, she relaxed quietly listening to the overplayed on screen drama in the background as time passed by.

She noticed shadows had begun growing longer as people walked past, It must be time for the suns to set…she stood finally satisfied with the hours of braiding and shrinking her hair to fit under a simplistic wrap. As she began walking back across town the ache in her feet didn’t distract her one bit as she was so hopeful that maybe tomorrow… _I won’t ever let anyone dictate whether or not I’m fed…No one will ever touch me again…_

The nervousness set in after she realized these thoughts must be too good to be true. Never the less she kept moving ahead keeping to herself until she reached the small bar, she looked around for the pink neon of the club across the street. The light cast onto her body was bright and inviting the big screens of animated beauties and the neon signs of leggy girls all emanated fuchsia…now where was Miki?

“Ah-Uh, over here!” A wispy voice called from the street corner “O-okay your hair looks great just as I said…but you’ll stand out in there in those clothes…”

“We’re going inside!?” _What kind of plan is this?_

“Well…it’s the easiest way sort of…well I-Do you have something to wear?” Miki said as Miku realized the cyborg had applied a face full of makeup and was uncomfortably pulling on a mini skirt.

“Yeah…am I just going to change here it’s so cramped…and out in the open…”

“Change fast there’s no more choices, and we’re going to be late any minute now.”

The blue eyed girl eyed the alleyway nervously as she shed her layers in exchange for her “work wear” a tiny black dress that fit like a glove and left her lacy camisole exposed.

Miki watched her intently “Do you mind?” Miku huffed embarrassed being seen in this when she wasn’t trying to show herself “No I just-Uh, let’s go you won’t need make up…barely anyone down here can afford it anyway…” She started yammering to herself this time while taking the nervous girl to the door by the hand.

The bouncer immediately recognized Miki from the back of the line and gestured for her to come forward “Luo’s little servant, amirite?” He said gruffly.

“Yes sir.” She spat through grit teeth.

The man leaned against the door frame smugly looking them up in down “You gals do a lot for me and the boy’s y’know” he hummed “but I can’t go around trusting you to bring strangers into my club, so why don’t you tell me who this chick is?”

The cyborgs face fell she had thought her pretty face and their history would’ve done the trick…But she underestimated him. Miku had to act fast…

“I’m Lulu~” the blue eyes darkened as her face shifted to someone entirely new “I’m sure you’ve heard of me from your friends haven’t you…?”

“Oh don’t tell me you don’t know…” She said coyly. His face twisted “Well if you must know Miki here is escorting me to ‘the boy’s’ to relay some information, I didn’t wanna be up front about it you know how secrets are…” _He’s not buying it…all out I guess…_

”If you stay quiet though there’s a surprise for you later~” His eyes lit up at that.

“You-You could’ve just said so! Come right in.” The bouncer practically shoved them inside to get to the next people in line.

Miki was positively dumbfounded “Wow that was-“

“Disgustingly easy.” Miku’s face had returned to it’s normal state of expression…”What a brute.” If unfocused and unbothered counted as an expression.

“rriggghhttt…” the red head took her hand one again and they weave their way through the smoky pink room, the smells were overwhelming. Soon her eyes began to burn and the cacophony numbed her ears, there were no eyes on her because in this room appearance meant nothing if you had to navigate with all of your other senses. “They’re in the backroom…” She muttered though her voice would not travel in the stifling environment anyway.

Suddenly they broke free from the wall of bodies, smoke, smells, and light. They were swallowed by the darkness “Third room.” Miki said audibly this time blindly stumbling around feeling for doorknobs. “Ah…it’s this one.” The cyborg took a deep breath as if she was the nervous one and plastered a smile onto her face.

They quickly shuffled the calm and poorly lit velvet coated room a shadow in the corner moved amongst the smoky haze.

“Yo.” A pleasant voice chuckled.

“H-Hello, Hero…it’s me…” The poor girl stammered through the smile unable to keep her cool. _Hero…Hiro?_ Miku wondered or maybe…

The voice revealed herself…choppy green hair, a sleazy smile, and panda eyes? “P-Panda Hero!?” She gasped her blue eyes widened _the girl on TV!? No way!?_

“The one and only.” Her mouth curled “Now let’s get down to business, ‘me’.” She lounged back in her seat swinging her arm up casually into the backs of the cushions.

“I K-Know you’re indebted to Luo.” Miki blurt out “She’s my boss and I mean if you don’t wanna take care of this without money-“

“You could help out this homeless girl, couldn’t you? For me? She’s been begging around for over a month the whole neighborhood knows her face by now…” the cyborg looked up in earnest “I wanna help but she’s as good as dead anywhere near Luo’s work”

“Your empathy will be your downfall If you continue feeding random strangers, ‘me’” The Panda Hero scoffed “What makes you think I have time for babysitting?”

_She’s so…unpleasant…didn’t she learn basic manners!?_

Miki began to chatter to frazzled to make sense of the situation, Miku put a hand on her shoulder and gently nudged her aside to look straight into the droopy eyes of the Panda Hero.

_Her expression is so infuriating! What makes her think I have time to be babysat!?_

“What makes you think I have time to be babysat, huh!?” _Oh shit, did I say that out loud?_ “You’re a hero aren’t you? You’re wanted by the chief aren’t you?” _might as well run with it since I’m going to die if this doesn’t work out anyway…_

“What have you got to loose!?” _It’s not like I’m worth anything outside of sex these days…but what else can I strive for?_

The Panda Hero didn’t even make eye contact she simply turned to Miki “Is this really how you expect to win my favor?” She cooed with that _stupid_ grin.

“Um-umm-m, I-I just, well-“ She took a deep breath in “I had a conversation with Luo this afternoon about this little exchange, I…I was hoping I could keep the details to myself and your good will as a ‘hero’ would’ve taken root.”

“I see now that that is not the case here.” She said softly.

“Luo is willing to offer a complete overhaul of your debt and donations of allies to your cause, if you take this girl off our hands.” She finished with a proud smile, though her mechanical parts were practically steaming.

The Hero took a long sip from a multi colored glass before smacking her lips contemplatively “What’s in it for her?” _How rude why does she care!?_ Miku pouted visibly.

“Luo? She just likes to see me happy.” The red head giggled as this notion was apparently rather funny to her.

The green haired girl let the corners of her lips fall “Honestly…I believe you.” She laughed again “Of course Luo is so simple minded, that love-struck idiot.” The last part was nearly inaudible but cyborg ears do hear everything.

“Love…? With who!?” Miki scooted down the bench curiously.

“No one, No one, she’ll tell you what I mean when you’re older.”

“I’ll babysit your neighborhood beggar as long as the help keeps coming. I know that Luo is always interested in supporting a good cause.” She snuffed out the end of the pipe and stood up. “Meet me outside, kid.” She pat Miku on the shoulder as she passed. _Kid!? Who’s immature here!?_

The door closed behind them with a click and all the tension in Miki’s body washed away as she sunk into the couch. “Whew…That went way better than I’d hoped…I totally thought she was gunna kill you back there.”

_Better than you’d hoped!?_

“Look…Miki I know the phrase ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ but I was kind of expecting a kind old lady on the outskirts of town…who would cook me food and tuck me in at night…” Miku sighed _of course even the “nice” people in this city are weirdos._

Miki laughed so hard it became just hacking “Really!?” she said breathlessly trying to calm herself down. “Haha, I-I-whoa, Um-Luo. Luo my boss.” _Yeah? What about it_ “She, uh, She lived with “The Panda Hero” when they were just kids…She was just like you; a beggar hiding in alleyways.” She looked the blue haired girl up and down “She never had to resort to selling herself though...um anyway…”

”I trust the cities hero even if you don’t.”

“You’ll be safe with her for sure!” She smiled bouncing her long hair with it “Oh but before you go, take this.” _A business card? “Luo’s Lounge: A taste of Earth’s finest cuisine!”_ There was a number crossed out and a new one scrawled under it.

“Thank you, Miki…” Miku frown contemplatively, the antics of the day suddenly rushing in all at once.

”I-I don’t think your empathy will be your downfall. I’m glad you decided to help me even though you have no reason to trust me…”

“I have plenty of reasons to trust you, Miku! Luo’s been keeping an eye on a “New addition” for this whole month I had a feeling it was you as you’re appearance is rather striking.” While she smiled saying that Miku couldn’t help but feel the surveillance was a bit unsettling.

The room grew quiet this strange one-in-a-million moment growing more apparent by the second _It took a month to find someone to help me, so why does this feel so fast?_

“Thanks…I suppose, I should go now.” The cyborg waved goodbye as the blue haired girl made her way to the back door.

Her hand was on the door knob but… _how did I get into this situation?_  Was her only thought.

Miku squeezed her mouth and eyes shut, _here we go,_ she thought shakily thrusting open the back door. “Ah, there you are.” The so-called “Hero” declared.

She tossed the girl with wide blue eyes a rough helmet and straddled a crude looking machine “Hop on!” She said with a pat. She obeyed…reluctantly, _She wants me to ride this metal death trap!? I’m gonna die…_ The seat was the same foreign material as the hat and so small she was pressed against the other girl’s _(strangely warm)_ body.

“Hold on tight, kid.”

With that the city became a blurry mess, the artificial lights coming from the towering buildings above them danced in the wildest of ways. _I wanna puke_ , The machine was the only thing the road, as usual, people tended to stay out of the open.  _She’s just too brash!_ Miku wanted to huff but she feared she would fly back if she opened her mouth.

The ride was oddly calming…the lights, the engine noise, and the feeling of another human being that…wanted to help you. It felt like too much in one moment to fully understand, but nevertheless she was…grateful her situation had come to this…even if it was weird. To be surrounded by danger she had been so persistently avoiding but for it to appear only as a pretty array of colors, was comforting in one way and disconcerting in another. She began to notice other things around her slowly as the initial rush wore off, first off she was gripping to the other girl tight enough to leave nail indents, The dust was definitely up her nose, and her skirt did not stay down for the duration of the ride.

_Embarrassing…not that there’s really any reason to care…but…_

_Embarrassing._

In what felt like just a few moments they had arrived at…she wasn’t sure…she sat staring confusedly at it and the clothes in a vast array scattered about the windows…

“The entrance is through here, makes a great cover doesn’t it?” The hero chuckled.

“Um, what…is it?” Miku asked while hesitantly unsticking herself from the bike and fixing her dress to cover the necessities.

“A tailor? They fix clothes.”

_Why would they need that?_ “Y’know there’s such a thing as indestructible fabric right?”

She pushed her bike into the alleyway behind the shop brushing dust off of it “You should know better than anyone that this planet doesn’t get a lot of outside contact.”

“Ah…yeah…” She actually didn’t know as her arrival on this planet was nothing she was particularly looking forward too. She doesn’t know the flight schedules of the ships that come and go but it wouldn’t matter if she did because stowaways are as good as dead.

A perfectly bear like grunt came from the hero as she tugged the smaller girl into the low lit shop, she nodded to an irritated blonde working away at the front desk how eyed her grouchily wiggling the pins in her mouth. The hero led Miku through a mess of backroom corridors that slowly sloped down with many doors and branching corridors with miniscule labels on either side…it ended in a long stair case who’s walls were decorated with PSAs, News paper articles, and all sorts of pictures collected from around the city. _Don’t tell me that there’s a whole city underground city to in the back doors of tiny shops…_

“My neighbors a bit of a hoarder…likes conspiracies and stuff…” The girl said with a genuine smile running her hand over the tacked down paper.

“I can’t even imagine where all the paper comes from to facilitate this…” Miku gawked, of course she had seen paper but holos, glasses, even your brain being wired into the universe’s web was more common on her home planet even if the rich could only engage in the latter.

Another grunt. Descending the stairs Miku noticed that her caretaker was taking glances at her often and pretending to be looking at the wall behind her, _so shameless._ She coughed and glared in response to these looks.

“This is it…last door on the right, the neighbors are good people. They’ll be happy to help as long as you’re not an asshole.”

She scratched the green hair on the back of her neck awkwardly “Uh if you’re going to be living here, the names Gumi.” _Gumi…strangely fitting…_ The blue haired girl hummed in approval _._

“I’m Miku, Miku Hatsune.” She said sticking her hand out in front of her, Gumi took it gingerly and shook. “Now you don’t have to call me ‘kid.’”

Gumi began unlocking the lock on the door, _Sooooooo slooowwww…_ ”I dunno about that, kid.” She said with the sleazy smile returning to her face, _ugh._

The door swung open and they both walked into the big messy room, a well-stocked kitchen to the left and a bathroom to the right. The main room was covered in gaudy wall paper and an array of pictures and posters, It was overwhelmingly colorful. On the concrete floor was a mess of dirty rugs and clothes a bit pile of fabric was in the corner (Miku was hesitant to call it a bed), the walls were lined with crudely nailed baseball bats and ‘secret compartments’ except they weren’t very secret since they were open.

As she looked around the atrocious smell hit her, the floor was drowned in food wrappers and stained clothing… _was that?_

“Is that blood!?” She squealed jumping away at the sight of it.

An affirmative grunt, “If you don’t like it clean it up yourself, it’s a part of the environment by now.”

_How could she be so stupid!?_ “You’ll get sick and die living like this!”

“mmhm.” Gumi said pulling off some goggles from a shelf, “I gotta go out tonight. We probably won’t be seeing each other often, which is why I agreed to this.”

“So as long as you don’t touch anything you’ll be fine, foods in the fridge and what not.”

_She ignored me! Ugh…Why couldn’t it have been a kind old lady…I mean I’m grateful but…wait_ “food?” Miku said excitedly.

 “Yeah, water from the tap is good too.” The green eyed girl said nonchalantly before opening the door once again “If you take anything, you won’t wanna know what’s coming, kid.” And with that she was gone…but wait, there was a click, _did she just lock me in!?_ _She can’t take my word for it…how cowardly!_

She stomped around the room irritated at this breach of manners, half of her however was completely understanding, which made the whole situation even more infuriating. “Just who does she think she is?” She trudged into the kitchen to grab a glass only to find the smell wasn’t just coming from the rest of the apartment…the sink looked like death itself calling to Miku from the other side.

“She’s haughty, thinks she’s ALL that, she’s a slob, hardly a selfless hero!” She rummaged through the cupboards with her dress pulled up like a mask “And on top of that she’s wanted by the police! I should just turn the idiot in and buy my own place, take up that whole eternal beauty thing!” She said muffled by her clothes (which honestly didn’t smell any better than the rest of the apartment.)

She was hopeful and excited for just a moment before realizing that was a terrible idea…ratting out Gumi wouldn’t give her any reward…They just say that to trick you then they give you half of they offered to get you hooked on everything you need but leave you to floundering in debt. _So bad idea, so what? There’s plenty more where that came from_.

She made sure to catch every drop from the tap, she worried that watering the monster in the sink would only make it smell worse, before turning to the dreaded refrigerator…What evil concoction would this hold…she sniffed it a reasonable distance before opening it to reveal….

Regular edible food, she heaved a sigh of relief tempted to grab and eat everything before her. “This…This looks good…” She held up a package containing normal nutrient jelly but it was some sort of flavor long forgotten by the other planets…“Ch-Chair-ee…Cherry.” _Sounds sweet…Does the demon on the motorcycle like sweets? How sensible._ She made a cat like face riddled with mischief before downing the huge packet in one go, she tossed back the water, it felt so good to be full again and so soon after the last time. She rubbed her tummy contently noticing how disgusting the fabric felt… _I’ve been wearing the same two pairs of clothes for a month…gross._

She was so full and the room was warm…but she wanted to clean so bad…It was atrocious. But the blanket pile looked so enticing, it was the only thing in the room remotely uncontaminated, she tip toed across the room taking a minute to figure out how to turn off the primitive light fixture. Miku flopped down pulling off the clothes and undoing her intricate hair style while snugging into the blankets, it felt so comforting to be safe…Even if Gumi locked her in the room to be trapped and she’d die in here…at least the first night would be nice.

_Night night._


	2. Getting Settled

Miku woke up to the assault in the sense that was Gumi’s apartment and a strange heat engulfing her, she turned and saw the green haired girl in all her underwear-clad glory just two inches away from her face. She gasped and pushed back quickly instantly awake, _why didn’t she use another blanket…? And more importantly, did she see me naked!?_ She was going to die of embarrassment if she didn’t die from the smell first. _I should just pretend to be asleep until she wakes up and leaves…_ The blue eyed beauty slowly laid back down and inched towards the hero’s face. _Hehe…She really does look like a panda with those circles…I wonder what color her eyes are…I didn’t get a good look._

Perfectly timed Gumi opened her eyes without warning, Miku shut hers and practically slammed her head onto the pillow. _They’re reddish…weird…_ It sounded as though the other girl was relieved, _she bought it!?_

She stood up and out of the corner of her eye Miku watched as she pulled on some (most certainly dirty) clothes and tied her (most certainly unwashed) hair into a tiny ponytail. _She’s such a slob…This can’t really be her morning routine._

_Her morals must be skewed because of a sad backstory._ She concluded this must be it as she wanted to give the girl a second chance after “being locked in for the whole night” incident. Gumi left after grabbing a pack from the fridge and the girl relaxed but began to feel empty again…She was rescued and had her first real conversation on this planet within a few days, she felt gratitude but…The conversation was simple and the rescue felt to underhanded to be a ‘rescue’ more like a business exchange.

She blew some hair from her eyes tired of feeling tired and tired of all these _stupid_ emotions! _Why can’t I just be happy I’m in a warm bed with food and water, that I’m not sleeping in random strangers beds because I sold myself to them!_

“Maybe it’s too late…maybe I have no faith in humanity left…” Miku buried herself under the covers “I’m gunna die a sad old lady on this disgusting planet…”

Suddenly the phone rang. She’d never understood the concept of having so many devices but the people of this planet liked everything separate…The ringer died down but it gave her an idea…She popped out and began rummaging through her bag for the card.

“Ah-ha!” she cheered to herself “Luo’s Lounge…” she muttered pecking at the numbers on the phone board, it began to ring waiting to be picked up.

“I’m sorry, Luo’s Lounge is closed today, but our “specials menu” has just been wrote up for tomorrow if you’d like a sneak peek!” Miki answered sweetly.

The blue haired girl giggled a bit “Is the “specials menu” the code word?” the cyborg was clearly flustered.

“Of course not!” she exclaimed before sighing and saying quietly “…is it really that obvious?”

“Yeah...” She began unconsciously twirling her long blue hair “But…U-Um, can I talk…to you?”

_We barely know each other she probably thinks I’m going to ask for money…_ ”Of course! I feel bad that I didn’t try to get you too some help sooner, Luo didn’t say your situation was that rough!”

“I’ve done this before so she probably just was hoping it would take care of itself! But sometimes people need a little push, y’know?” She was busily moving around but her point was still clear “And I know a bad person when I see ‘em and you’re NOT one at all!”

Miku blinked confused “You…know when you see a bad person?” How was it that a girl so kind could see bad in people but maintain her innocence…?

“Oh of course, you have to in this line of work otherwise my brain’d be smashed in.” She said matter-of-factly. “What? Did you think I was that childish?”

“Yeah kind of.” She admitted “I just…I’m worried that I’m too disillusioned with the human race after this whole month to see good and bad separately…everything is black and white except its all bad…I assumed it was the same with you but good.”

There was hysterical laughing happening on the other end “Why are you laughing at me!?” _I really am going to die of embarrassment, aren’t I?_

“You’re being-haha! Y-You’re being a b-bit melodramatic aren’t you?” She guffawed, Miku never wanted to hear a ‘guffaw’ come out of a girl as cute as Miki.

“Miku…this is an empty part of town no one comes outside, so you secluded yourself exclusively to a bar where people go to pick up prostitutes, you’re not disillusioned with humanity! You’re just disillusioned with a bad part of town!” Miki calmed down her laughter.

“In all seriousness you might be upset right now; which is understandable, emotional experiences after traumatic experiences are textbook. But it’s not going to last forever, I’ve been there done that! It sucks but you’ll get back on your feet.” The red head hummed thinking to herself.

“And…If you just put a little trust in our home town hero I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…”

While Miku had been nodding along for the conversation feeling better by the second but then… _Trust her!? How on Earth should I rust someone who doesn’t trust me not to even touch her stupid things!?_

“She’s the least trust worthy person imaginable! Have you seen her apartment it’s a toxic dump, that she…y’know… _locked me in_ it to keep me from taking her stuff!?”

“I-I mean I’m glad to get help but-“

“But nothing. Give her time, and do your best I know things can only get better from here!” With that the phone clicked, she put it back in its holder awkwardly feeling more motivated than she had in awhile.

“Time to get to work!” She bounced to the fridge more ready than ever to start the day, because if Gumi didn’t trust her she would have to _make_ her new housemate trust her, there was no time to be given if she could just make the girl come around!

Miku decided to start with the bathroom, she wanted clean clothes before anything else. She grabbed random bottles from below the sink each had a different use a different torn up label, all old and half full…It was a good thing they had directions for at home she never needed to clean with liquids…or solids for that matter…

She dumped an array of chemicals all over the bathroom spreading them around the bathtub, toilet, and counter with a brush she found under the sink. Her nose began to burn and her hands felt tingly but there was no stopping her from ridding this room of grime. Cleaning your living space can sometimes be akin to cleaning your mind, in this case that holds true. The entire room was delightfully sudsy save the ceiling, she wiped sweat off her forehead proud of her handy work before rinsing the room off with a bucket of water.

_It’s so nice! Now time to figure out how the bathtub works…_ The blue haired girl had never had a tub but she figured it was for bathing since it was appropriately human sized. She fiddled with the knobs before figuring out that one led to an overhead, which promptly soaked her hair… _well that’s going to take forever to dry…_

She skipped into the main room gathering an array of clothes: boxer shorts, torn up jeans, stained T-Shirts, socks with holes, and a single lacy nightdress _…Ugh…I bet that isn’t even hers…_

Now that all the clothes had been put on the bathroom counter the floor was just barely visible but there were still rugs, blankets, and copious amounts of trash to clean up! She filled the bathtub with water and soap that on the label said that it was all purpose so Miku hoped that it would work. She didn’t entirely understand the concept of cleaning products but nothing had been too disastrous yet. She tossed everything into the hot bath including her own clothes which were damn near impossible to loose considering she must be a few heads shorter and a toothpick in comparison to Gumi.

She meticulously scrubbed and sprayed every stain and rinsed each article one by one, she strung a rope she found a couple of times around the room so she had a couple make shift clothes lines to let them dry on. The underwear and the pit stains were the worst, blue eyed girl really didn’t want to know all this information… _I mean it’s normal, but it’s so gross! Why am I doing this again…?_

She pressed on until it came to the blood stained shirt and pants…In all honesty it scared her, _what was this whole “Panda Hero” act about anyway? Was she a gang member? A murderer!?_ She couldn’t ever mention this to Miki. She couldn’t get the stains out so she tried to throw them away but the trash was overflowing, it smelled worse than the sink. She tied the garbage up in its bag before taking it out and placing on the tile entrance, she filled up around three more bags with those and all he trash lying around the house. _Disgusting…I’m glad I decided to take a bath later_.

Then there was the washing of all the blankets and rugs, surprisingly in much worse condition then any of the clothes…There were also a surprising amount of handmade blankets sewed together from pieces of fabric, they were embroidered with a name but she couldn’t read the symbols. _So maybe not a gang…I doubt gang members make quilts for each other._ She cleaned them gently and hung them up nicely so they wouldn’t fall, it was weird to think that Gumi would have friends that would do that for her…Miku figured something more…aggressive would be a gift she’d look forward to.

_Well, it doesn’t matter to me!_ And so back to work she went the whole apartment was spotless in no time the floors were pristine and the kitchen counter was sparkling, she’d dusted everything she could see and put all the weapons away (and closed all those pesky cabinets).

Expect…The kitchen sink…

It was giving off a dark ominous aura (probably the smell) begging her to come put it to rest (probably all the chemicals making her hear things) she had been avoiding it…It was just too much for her… _It’s probably poisonous I’ll die if I so much as make eye contact with that thing!_ (Apparently it was sentient and had eyes). She took a deep breath of not-so-fresh-because-of-chemicals air which burned her throat…She then held her breath and ran at the sink full speed! She turned the water on and plunged her hands into it. _Don’t look, Don’t look, Don’t loo- eekk!! Did it move!?_ She was blurting out obscenities under her breath trying to just scrub off the excess, it stopped being under her breath when she had to pull them out to scrub and rinse…

After what felt like a torturous eternity the dishes were all put away and the sink shined as much as the rest of the house. She sighed more ready than ever for her first “bath” on this planet, she headed towards the bathroom to get set up. _I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much water at once and to be in it must be…weird…At home you would be cleaned by the tiny organisms in your sleeping chamber…The sounds way weirder now that I’ve been on this dumb planet…_

She stepped into the water and sat down, it was really hot but…It felt so nice to wash her body and hair. She was starting a nest on her head but now she was able to relax. _This is so nice…I could cry…Not at food or a warm bed but being clean after a hard day’s work- no- a hard day’s work I wanted to do._ She laid her head on the edge of the tub letting herself soak she was very content for a moment before the time alone with her thoughts brought back the worries from the morning. _I don’t have to be empty forever,_ she reminded herself and instead decided to focus on humming and playing with the bubbles. She wanted to call Miki and tell her they should become instant best friends and she could come hang out… _But that would be so weird…She really would think I wanted money if I did that, but she made me feel a lot better to day…Makes me wanna talk to her again._

Just as Miku began nodding off thinking about how nice it would be to clean with Miki next time. Until the front door clicked open, she really had no idea how to keep track of time down here but nearly the whole day had gone by she’d eaten lunch and dinner while cleaning…Of course Gumi would come home now… _I haven’t put away all the clothes yet…_

There was silence from the other room, she was taking it all in Miku supposed.

“W-What did you do!?” The hero was obviously flustered having burst into the bathroom with no warning. The blue haired girl yelped and ducked down leaving only her head, _really!?_

“I cleaned up. Did you really expect locking me in a pig sty was going to fly?” She sighed. “

If I’m not allowed to leave I better make it livable.” As much as she wanted Gumi to trust her the green haired girl’s face may have already become a sass switch.

“I don’t…don’t…”

“You don’t like it?” _To bad! If she kicks me out over healthy living conditions good riddance a dumpster would be better than before!_

Her face became cold and confident again like a mask being placed over her face “I have an errand to run, I just came by to grab dinner.”

“Don’t you need sleep?” _Not like I’m worried over that idiot’s inability to understand basic hygiene, ugh, she’s such a nuisance._

“Yeah.” And with that the door was slid shut and Gumi was gone, Miku was upset about being put in a sour mood but really she was just frustrated about her confusion…Why was she upset? _It’s only logical to want a clean room, right? Maybe she was actually attached to all that junk… maybe…It’s my bedtime._

She rung out her impossibly long hair and shook off all the water off her body before grabbing the lacy night dress to put on, _the owner probably won’t want it back after all its been through,_ she concluded. Before sleep she set up a new comfortable bed that didn’t look like a blanket cave and put away all of Gumi’s clothes (and the rope).

She shut off the light easily and settled in for sleep, she had a feeling there would be weird dreams tonight after her roommate’s interruption. _No matter…_

 

 

When she awoke, the panda hero was on the other side facing her, she was strangely relieved that the other girl was ok. At least okay enough to not trash the house, Miku was grateful everything was still in ship shape. It was fairly dark save for a small light in the kitchen that was on at all times…But any time of day would be dark since there weren’t any windows. She got up and ate breakfast feeling a lot better than yesterday morning, _this might work if I can keep myself from going stir crazy._

She got dressed in her now clean clothes which felt…So nice…Made her want to go back to sleep…Instead she decided to brush her hair with an old unused brush she found in the bathroom. This could possibly take forever since her hair was a behemoth, it was meditative but she was shocked awake from the ring of another phone. Gumi shot out of bed and grabbed the phone from the seat next to Miku with lightning speed. _How is it possible to be such a light sleeper?_

“Hello?...Yeah…Well that’s-Uh…Uh huh…” She seemed to be growing more confused but kept her cool, the whole time maintaining awkward eye contact with the blue haired girl.

Then the hero promptly smashed her phone.

“What was that for!?” She was going to say ‘I just cleaned!’ but realized that might be insensitive.

A grunt “Y’know, just business.”

“No, _you_ know _I_ do not know.” _‘Business’ Oh come off it!_ Miku was admittedly a bit tired of her own attitude but it would help if her roommate would stop being so unpredictable.

“ _I_ don’t know anything!”

“But do _you_ know how bad this makes you look? I first meet you on national television talking about a man hunt, than in a shady club because a girl from an illegal gang post wanted me to see you, you’re apartment is in a hidden underground complex, there’s blood on your clothes, and you just smashed your phone!” If she wasn’t seething before she sure was now, she really wanted to be grateful she was safe but when you’re safe it’s easier to push other people’s buttons without fear.

“Bad, but despite your knowledge of that you still wanna be around me.” Gumi pulled her face into another awful smile.

“What makes you think that?” The girl’s blue eyes squinted matching her scowl.

“Well for starters I’ve locked you in this room, if someone had done that to me I would’ve killed them with the plethora of weapons in the room while they were sleeping…Not that you could’ve pulled that on me but you didn’t try it.”

“Secondly you cleaned my whole house and after looking over it nothings been hidden or taken except for the bloody clothes, which I took out to the incinerator last night. Lastly you don’t hold back when you speak. If you really thought I was a gang member I could kill you at any time that happened.”

She was dumbfounded, _did I really do that…I can’t trust her already, can I?_ “I-It must be, I don’t know! Morbid curiosity! That’s why I’m not leaving, or-or- you’re a confusing person maybe I’m gathering dirt on you to turn you in!”

“If you were doing that you wouldn’t’ve just said that.”

“Maybe I’ve got nowhere else to go!”

“You don’t but if you thought you weren’t going to survive you would’ve made something work.”

_This is so infuriating! But…she’s probably right…_

“Okay…so maybe you’re right about this…Then why don’t you trust me and tell me a little about everything.”

“You know “A little about everything” is kind of contradictory.”

“Alright, alright…Just tell me about the blood first…It’s been driving me insane…”

She laid her elbows on the counter and raised her eye brow confused “I didn’t kill anyone, kid. I was with someone who was in a fight and needed care so I carried them home.”

“Oh.” _I didn’t think about that._

“Now I’d like to know “A little about everything” about you she said lazily pointing at Miku.” The girl then began eating a pack of bite sized gels for breakfast talking through her chewing, _manners…please…_

“…hm…I like…I like…singing.” She really did like singing she used to do it a lot by herself before she came here.

“Haha, I do to!” Gumi laughed heartily “We should sing together some other time but today-“ _Munching_ “I’ve got more errands to run…I’ll leave the door unlocked today…Just don’t do anything stupid, ‘Kay?”

“Suurrrreeee”

“Don’t mess with me, kid.”

For the next few days to come it became a ritual to exchange tidbits with each other in the morning nothing necessarily serious but Miku learned Gumi liked to draw, builds things for fun out of scrap, and the name on the quilts was no name at all it was “Panda Hero’s Secret Admirer”. It was shocking how much the “Panda Hero” was a part of Gumi she just wished she knew who the “Panda Hero” was. She got settled in and was feeling more comfortable each night despite not knowing so much, Miki called to check in twice chattering about weird customers and how Miku’s the only person genuinely interested in the food.

It was kind of nice. Maybe the emptiness would leave sooner than she thought.

 


	3. Mending Relationships

It’d been a week since Miku had begun staying with Gumi, the place was nice, she was well fed, she could talk to Miki all she wanted to, and she was allowed free reign of the complex. The problems only ever arose when her roommate was involved, they had a chat every morning and…that was it…neither of them asked personal questions; for her it was out of fear for the hero it was probably disinterest.

The whole week was just full of new experiences even though they were small so it made the whole process feel a lot longer than it really was. She hadn’t really anything to spend the day thinking about beyond her confusion around “Panda Hero” which wasn’t worth thinking about since it didn’t change anything!

She’d already talked to Miki that day so there was no way to occupy herself, she felt like they were getting close even though it was probably Miku’s imagination. _She’s just so nice, I think she just talks to me because she feels bad for me…_ nevertheless it felt good to have someone on her side and to have a real conversation with after so long.

Since things just seemed boring she decided to walk up to the “Tailor’s” they must have something interesting to say…she left her room and followed a maze of different stickers and signs, it would have taken forever to get there had she not been left a map from her roommate. The walls in different parts changed from peeling paint, concrete, poster covered, and newly wallpapered. The floor was always covered in strewn about scrap metal and wood and trash was everywhere…The flickering lights illuminated these things as if they were human. It was interesting to really see a ‘city’ underground… apparently to the right wing was a shopping center and the actual businesses, she could even hear voices. It was so strange that it was livelier down here than the city outside…She wondered why.

Upon finding the door to the outside (one of many she should add, considering her earlier hypothesis about small shop owners building iron doors into the back room) she pushed the heavy thing open and was met face to face with a girl with wildly long blonde hair, tan skin, and a pointy face…In fact everything about her seem sharp her frown, her nose, her eyes…her eyebrows look deadly.

She looked back down at her phone, _so rude…is everyone here rude…_

“Waddaya want?” She said smacking on something in her mouth purposely avoiding eye contact.

_What do I want? Should I tell her I was bored…?_

“I uh…I’m new…to this whole…” She gestured flopping her hands around in no particular pattern “Thing.”

She looked up, _death glare_ , she was a bit intimidating but upon closer inspection a whole head shorter than her and probably a few years younger. Suddenly her eyes lit up “ _You’re_ the new girl Panda was talkin’bout!”

“Yes I-“

“You’ll be such a big help ‘round here, I can’t work all the shifts y’know? Especially when I’ve got so many using my services!”

_Wait no…Gumi didn’t try and get me a job did she!?_ “Wait! there’s been a m-“

“Oh it’s a-ok if you dunno how to sew and shit, Panda was pretty reluctant at first to even so much as talk about you since she didn’t think you’d be up for it. But I’m damn persuasive.” She said with a razor sharp smile and fangs to boot. _More like damn manipulative…_

“She agreed to this I-“

“Well it was a solid maybe and then she ran away but I think she’s just shy.” _She is the opposite of shy and I barley know her!_

“a solid ma-“

“Very solid.” The girl went back to furiously typing on her phone, she seemed to be wound up about something but Miku sure as hell was not going to ask. She tried to sneak back into the door and make a run for it, but the girl’s arm shot out and grabbed her wrist so tight she’s surprised it didn’t break.

“I’m glad you’re happy to work here!” She smiled the most insincere smile anyone could possibly muster… _Gumi if you really are a hero save me, please!”_

Now she was being tugged across the shop being told about the job…you fix peoples torn fabric and take stuff in and edit things to fit them better…it was that simple…until she poked herself about seven times with a sewing needle trying to copy the girl whom she found out was named “Neru” not because she told Miku but because it was scrawled across her nameplate in all caps.

“This is why I said to wear the thimble.” The amber eyed girl was gritting her teeth to practice patience, _she really wants someone to take this shift._ Miku put on the thimble wishing it wasn’t so ugly and stupid looking, it worked a bit better and slowly her stiches began evening out.

“Does this look okay?” She asked after she finished fixing the tiny tear.

“Passable.” She didn’t even look up, _she is so damn rude but not nearly infuriating as Gumi…something about her character just sets me off._

They fell back into silence as she copied the strokes of the girl in front of her, for the blonde’s aggressive no nonsense behavior she was surprisingly meticulous about her work. She certainly didn’t make good first impressions but the blue haired girl wasn’t having a bad time hanging out and learning how to sew…at least when Neru’s mouth was shut.

“So-“Oh _great I jinxed it…here we go…._ “-Is the “Panda Hero” any fun to live with?” _an actual question…no swears or rude remarks…_

She decided to answer honestly.

“Absolutely not!”

“She’s a slob with a confusing lifestyle and a nasty personality!” her amber eyes widened in shock so she decided to keep going.

“Why she is even called a hero?” Her frustration around not understanding was starting to blow up…seeing her on the news was just too much to keep quiet about.

Neru’s face contorted switching through many emotions before settling on anger, she stood up setting her work aside.

“You don’t know shit about her.” The girl’s whole body shrunk in on herself as she tensed up enclosing her rage, she appeared surprisingly calm now in spite of her unbridled outbursts over trivial things

“Get out.”

_What can I even say? she won’t tell me about her stupid persona because she’s lazy…useless…not heroic in the slightest. I bet she spends all her times in memory dens shooting up with the money she can scrounge up…The fact that I know nothing speaks to her personality enough._

“Look, I-“ She began in earnest, hoping Neru would understand where she was coming from.

“GET OUT!” In the span of seconds the world felt as though it had come to a halt, a yellow phone had been swung at full force coming straight at her. She couldn’t move.

She was on her back. Her head hurt. Neru was gone.

_Empty again…I’m so useless…I’m only good when I keep my mouth shut. I can perform, clean, sew, whatever someone wants me to do I’ll do it…_

_But my voice doesn’t matter...why should I be poking at people’s lack of manners when I can’t hold a fucking conversation._

_These relationships don’t matter…not in the long run…just like back home…your voice is good for nothing…_

She laid there letting the throbbing go down, _why does it take days to feel better but a second to feel fucking horrible, I feel like I don’t know shit about **anything** going on not just “Panda Hero”._

_I should just go back to the room and clean again_ , Not that it was dirty she just wanted to be bathed in the smell of chemicals she wanted her skin to be raw from soap so she could only leave the good emotions.

_I guess I’ve recovered so quickly this week because I don’t want to think about…everything that happened…I don’t wanna think about the reason I’m with Gumi, I don’t want to-_

She rolled over groaning thousands of images flash though her mind, all the reasons she had come to this planet, all the disgusting human beings who took advantage of her body and all the ones she let touch her… _I’m such an idiot…Why does Miki even care…I’m scum…She must only be doing this because, because…_

_I don’t know…I’m too tired…_

Miku hoisted her body up wincing at her head, her forehead was probably going to turn purple. She noticed the phone had snapped on impact. _Serves her right…serves me right…_ She walked into the backroom somberly and pried open the heavy door. She started her way down into the twisty underground city she had no particular direction in mind, just wanting to drown out her own thoughts and confusion she went towards the noise. It took ages and deep winding paths to identify it’s origin and she was confronted with a simple doorway.

There was a fabric screen that she pushed open to reveal a massive bustling market place, shops carved from rock with fabric doors and concrete doorways dotted the humungous cavern, walk ways of solid rock, metal, and rope bridges crisscrossed the carven and there were a few primitive elevators whirring. The noise was echoing to much to make words out of just babbling. It felt safe for a place where any one person could be dangerous.

_You can’t make emptiness leave by filling it with noise._

_Shut up._

_You can’t make confusion stop by pretending it isn’t there._

_Shut up._

_You can’t make memories leave by acting like you’re fine._

_Shut up._

She dove into the crowd, so many smells and weirdly colored lights. People were chatting, laughing, crying, it was invigorating. She inspected every shop clear bottles and assortments of food gels, containers for memories, preserved organs, delicacies, weaponry, poisons, medicines, robot parts, and drugs of all sorts, if you could name it they had it. The staggering amount of colors and words floated around her pressing against her face, an assault on the senses after feeling so vulnerable. She couldn’t breathe it all in it was too much to comprehend, her brain was screaming.

_You’re emptiness will just get bigger if you surround yourself with hundreds who can’t see you._

_The people who talk to me can’t see me._

_How do you know that?_

_You tell me._

She sat down watching the people walk by, poor, dirty, sad, lost to substances, lost to their thoughts, were all too common…but somehow their interactions with others made their faces lie…

A woman in the bustling crowd stood out, she was staring directly at Miku. She had long black hair tightly styed and a stout no nonsense stance, she was stunning in her ability to project power with no words. And with the brief eye contact they shared she was gone again, somehow the blue haired girl felt as though she knew the woman.

_You’re losing it, if you’re going to sit around like a good-for-nothing do it at home._

_No._

Miku wanted to laugh with Gumi again and talk to Miki again and apologize to Neru again but it’s not like anyone cared. “You’re not worthy of the knowledge you want” she imagined the three of them looking down on her with pity and malice. She’d never been good with people and she feared the long ship ride to get here and the month trying to get by may have deprived her of any skills what-so-ever. She didn’t wanna go back to selling herself and sleeping in alleyways, but she didn’t want to go back to the hero’s apartment either.

_You’re so childish can’t you just accept goodwill without looking into it? Why do you need motives?_

She nuzzled her face between her knees, why did she make Gumi upset when she cleaned, is that why Gumi sleeps facing away now? Is that why they only talk once a day? It’s not like it matters the less time with the idiot the better…But what if it was her fault? She was exhausted, why did being upset make her tired?

Time passed she was in a trace watching people go by, there were no more thoughts, the white noise had permeated her brain. It grew quieter, fewer people, fewer people to pay her no mind. She noticed the source of this white noise changed…another TV shop…another broadcasting about the man hunt. She willed herself to stay, _why are you so invasive its not like you **have**_ to know, but to no avail she shook herself out of her trance and waddled over to the growing crowd.

“-I…am…afraid I have bad news to deliver.” The chief of police was speaking again “It seems our police squadron who was leading this hunt is unaccounted for, we believe this is the doing of “Panda Hero” all the more reason-“

An old man growled at the television “You just can’t admit your own corruption!” another, a young lady, shouted “She believes in justice! You believe in power!”

Chants of “Don’t you know a hero when you see one!?” started and Miku mustered up the last of her strength to shush them.

“-This mission was meant to be concluded in a matter of days but…it seems things will return to normal until we can achieve the funding…we will do our best to keep our citizens safe and free of her recklessness.” The crowd scoffed at this as she snuck away.

_I think it’s time for me to go home. I can’t wallow in my own brain for much longer._

She began walking home, the noise left her brain and she was empty again but less so, this time she had a goal in mind.

Talk to the “Panda Hero.”


	4. Road Block

It was dark, Miku was afraid. She was afraid to confront someone who she couldn’t understand. Whose word could she trust if not from the mouth of the “Panda Hero” herself? The bed was comfortable and her clothes were soft but she could not be at ease…Waiting for the door to open…Waiting for the worst. _If I upset her she could kill me…Probably…It’s not like I know…She could be a fucking accountant working a desk job for all I know._

The door clicked and she shrunk into herself the tiny kitchen light illuminated the girl who was breathing heavily and grabbing at her side. _What’s wrong with her?_ She began to cough dropping closer and closer to the ground before lying against the counter trying to be silent. _So much for confronting her._ The blue haired girl stood up and walked straight into Gumi’s face, _she’s gotten hurt…What an idiot._

“So what’d you do fall off your metal death trap?”

“Shut-“She threw up all over herself heaving her breathing becoming ragged, Miku was petrified.

“Why are you here!? You’re going to die!” _She’s going to die, She’s going to die, She’s going to die, She’s going to die, She’s going to die, She’s going to-_

“Help…me, Miku.” _What do I do…Pressure…? What did mom used to say?_

“Um…I-“The girl took off the jacket and hesitated at the growing blood stain, she wished she wasn’t squeamish. She told Gumi to put her arms up and pulled her shirt up like a bandage, blood was everywhere somehow her ears began to thrum and her nose filled with its scent. Her hands shivered as she examined the wound. A complete impalement through non vital tissue but…So close. She slapped herself out of the trance blood on her face she felt as though she would begin to bleed instead of sweat once her vision went completely red.

She ran to the bathroom grabbing fabric and towels she was going to wash and ripped them up into strips, She moved towards the wound hesitating again… _I have to touch it…With my eyes open…_ She grit her teeth and began to scream with her mouth closed and stuffed the wound to stop the bleeding. The flesh was peeling apart in a gooey lumpy way under the trail of thickening blood, she screamed louder or maybe that was Gumi screaming she couldn’t tell the blood engulfed all her senses.

_Don’t die, Don’t die, Don’t die, Don’t die, Don’t die, Don’t die, Don’t die-_

“Dis-Dis-in…fectant…blue!” The green haired girl spat out with all she had eyeing the bathroom. Her caretaker quickly bolted to the bathroom leaving bloody handprints on every bottle below the sink. She was frantic, _it’s all red what do I-_

“Tha-t!” She looked at the one in her hands. Disinfectant.

She ran back in a panic crouching over the other girl possessively, she began to pour the disinfectant through the wound. The hero screamed. Was this right?

_Throbbing, Drowning, Screaming, Yelling, Pain, Smell, Thick-_

_Wrap…Wrap…_

She stopped to tie a long strip of fabric around Gumi’s waist to keep it in place, with each loop she could feel a small piece of relief being awarded to her despite this arrangement looking painfully temporary. Their breathing began to even out there were no more screams, the smell settled on the ground like dust. They sat facing each other covered in blood, tears, snot, barf, and spit. _Disgusting._

“…” Miku was more confused than ever…What happened? “What…Should I do?”

The Panda Hero looked at her with those tired dark eyes, bloodshot. “Call…Neru…She used to-“

“I don’t need back story.” _Never thought I’d be saying that_ “What’s her number.” Gumi relayed the number as she pressed bloody finger prints into the key pad.

The phone rang for what seemed like forever she kept eyeing the unmoving girl to make sure she was still breathing. A click.

“Waddaya want…? It’s so late…” A sleepy Neru answered the phone irritably.

“Please! It’s an-“

“You again? Dumbass.”

And Neru hung up.

Miku panicked calling every chance she could for the next few minutes only to be met with a phone turned off she frantically yelled at the phone bringing herself to near tears. She began to get angry with herself.

_WHY DO YOU CARE!? YOU THOUGHT GUMI WAS AN ANNOYING SLOB, YOU SAID SHE HAD A NASTY PERSONALITY, IF SHES NOT A HERO SHOULDN’T SHE JUST DIE!? IF SHES A CRIMINAL SHOUDN’T SHE JUST DIE!?_

_Please stop._

“You’ll have to take me to Neru if she’s going to be a bitch about it.” Gumi flashed a weak grin, _she…she tries harder than I thought…how can she smile at a time like this?_

“I…Alright…I can’t carry you…What do I do?”

Gumi made an effort to stand up before yelping in pain, she kept trying.

“Stop you’ll bleed a waterfall like that…what can we do…?” _She’ll die if I can’t come up with something, the blood will be on my hands forever, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead-_

The hero gestured to the map on the counter, “Sector Five, Floor Two, Room One Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty Four.” Her voice cracked and grew scratchier. “Go get her and bring her back.”

“What if-“

“Go.”

_I can’t do it, I have to –to-to-I…_

“I’ll be okay…Miku. Don’t worry about me please.” Another pitiful smile.

The blue haired girl couldn’t risk foot prints so she tore off her shoes and ran out the door in her disgusting stained and oozing body, the ground hurt. _Only your body is useful._

_I don’t need this right now._

She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them with vigor, her mind played a thousand memories at once with Gumi’s screams at the forefront. _I have to save her._

She went faster hearing the voices of so many yelling and crying into her mind the red soaking though her memories distracted her from the winding monotonous halls and the rhythmic echoes of her pounding feet. She couldn’t tell if she was breathing anymore but the time she got near Neru’s home she flew by the many doors examining number by number by number _by number by number, ah ha!_

“1,224” It read on a dusty placard, she banged on the door kissing the wood as she yelled for the blonde to help her. Nothing. She tugged the doorknob forcefully…Nothing.

She felt broken, slumped against the door, her memories fell upon her crushing her body her vision became completely red, _I’m a murderer…she must be dead…I’m useless…confused…haunted by the past…No wonder I can’t save someone._

_This is my punishment._

Her sobbing overtook her body and she crouched in on herself feeling sick, so much blood…In a few moments she was confronted with her dinner…

_This is my punishment for thinking she was horrible, refusing to listen to those around me, now I’ll lose my only life line in this cesspool of a planet._

“…What…the fuck…” Miku looked towards the voice, Neru stood over her shocked looking through a crack in the door.

“Why are you…T-The blood and…yuck…” The blonde swung the door open running to grab a huge bag. “Where are you hurt?” She hollered her facial expression looked on the brink of tears as she rummaged around the pack.

_Does she feel…guilty?_

“Um-G-Panda…hero, she’s…hurt.” She looked at Neru their eyes were both vulnerable in that moment, the blue haired girl realized that the blonde must know more then the “Panda Hero” on TV.

“I understand.” She said coldly before hoisting the sack onto her back and making a run for it… _That’s it…That’s all I can do…_ The girl laid there in a flickering yellow lit hallway. In the distance a mechanical whir continued matching in time with the drip of a pipe…The panic had shied away as the relief washed over her like a cool breeze, tears began to pool on the floor by her cheek but she didn’t know which reason they could possibly be connected to. It was all just too much to think about.

The breeze wrapped around her with comfort…No more time to think bad thoughts and ask too many questions…Only time to feel safe…She laid there staring at the lightning like cracks in the ceiling, to them the leaking pipe was appropriate thunder. And at this notion she fell asleep, she’d been exhausted already for too long…

 

-

 

“Hey!” a shout.

The world was blurry and her head was sore, there was a horrid smell in the air. She was in a pool of her own barf and covered in blood.

“Are you okay?” The voice asked, as a crowd of faces came into vision. They looked shocked and scared eyeing her bloody clothes.

“I’m…Fine…” She groaned sitting up “My friend-“ _friend? I barely know her._

_After this…I want to be her friend…she was fucking impaled…she needs someone on her side._

“My friend was hurt…I need to go home…She-“ _Is she okay!? Did Neru get there, how did I fall asleep!? Was I in shock, what happened?_

_…Home…Was it really starting to feel like home?_

“I can take you back.” A woman moved forward from the back of the crowd, she looked familiar, she turned looking Miku in the eyes and leaned down to grab her cheeks. She examined the blue haired girl before telling the crowd to scatter. Her hair…She must be the strange woman from the marketplace.

She hoisted Miku up and held her hand as she led her towards Gumi’s home after looking at the map, she was surprisingly delicate up close for her commanding atmosphere. “Ah…Thank you, ma’am.” She said with a slight nod that made her head spin a bit, she was still half asleep it seemed.

“Don’t call me ma’am, I’m not that old.” She grumbled, she seemed introverted but something in her eyes told a completely different story. “So…I trust you are not the cause of this blood, Miku.”

 _Why does she know my name…? Who is this lady?_ “Miku…? How do you-“

“I _trust_ you are not the cause of this blood?” She voiced more sternly this time.

“I am not.”

“Good.”

They made the rest of their way in silence, the woman left Miku to go the last length herself on the basis that she had no time. But her eyes said she was nervous…embarrassed…Didn’t want to be anywhere near the “Panda Hero.” The blue haired girl went down the steps feeling the dried blood on her skin, her face coated in tear tracks and throw up, she desperately wanted a bath. She felt horrible, _How is it possible for me to be so useless? I was supposed to help not have a panic attack and fall asleep…It’s not like I know what else to do…but…_

Once she got to the hallway she broke into a run and burst through the door of the apartment, Gumi was lying on the bed clean covered with a blanket. Neru was slumped in the corner snoring like a fog horn, she tip toed in unbelievably grateful that everyone was safe…especially Gumi…she went into the bathroom and scrubbed the blood and puke of her hands and face then discarded her clothes for a big T-Shirt she found. _I want to give her a chance…I thought she was infuriating…But really I think she’s something else beyond that sleazy smile…who is “Panda Hero”? I’ll only know if I can accept Gumi._

With that she pulled her sore body over and examined the girls sleeping figure…so peaceful…so…she wasn’t sure but something that made her smile. She placed her head on the pillow next to her and scooted close feeling so relieved no more suffering or blood. When she was clean the green haired girl looked so normal…Like someone Miku could’ve known in school, she was pleasantly plain in shape.

She had rough tan skin with light blotches and sprinklings, her face and neck line was dotted with scars old and new. Her lip had a deep one through it that was very old it detracted from her baby pink lips…her ears had lots of metal bits in them, an apparently popular adornment on this planet. Her eyebrows were thick and dark, she had the metal bits through those too…and of course most famous of all were her huge dark circles below her eyes they really were panda like…her choppy green hair looked so much like the feathers of a ruffled bird it kind of made Miku want to laugh even though the situation couldn’t really be considered a laughing matter… _this is creepy I can’t just sit here and stare at her like this…I should go take a real bath instead of just washing my hands…_

She got up and quietly as she could readied a bath to soak in, when she hopped in she filled it with bubbling soap. It was kind of silly but it was fun to play with…she hadn’t had that kind of fun for a long time. In the bath her body tingled with the warmth but her mind began to wander to the events of last night. In that moment she could feel Gumi’s flesh again and smell the blood, she shivered, _it’s so wrong…who could do such a thing…_

_All it does is make me wonder who “Panda Hero” really is to Gumi, what is she running about doing every day? Why is she in debt to Miki? Why did she know Neru would know how to help her? Is it possible that that weird woman knows her? Why does she wear a fake personality? Why was her room a pig sty? Why was she mad that I cleaned-_

_Too much…_ Miku groaned and began to massage her head, she would confront her when she woke up, and she would…try to be there for the girl from now on. She should be grateful that she has a caretaker and…maybe a new “friend”…

 


	5. Origin Stories

“…Miku, yeah?” A voice drifted through the door, it sighed “Can I come in?”

The blue haired girl ducked below the foggy cream left by the bubbles, it had been hours and the water was cold but she still felt like the blood was there. “Yes…come in…”

Neru opened the screen quietly and plopped down on the shaggy bathroom rug, she was a bloody disgusting mess, she looked as though she’d been crying too. “Look, it’s been a long night, can I…join you?”

She blushed bright red “Um…the waters cold…can you turn around while I refill it?”

“Sure.” Neru was surprisingly complacent probably because of how emotionally spent she was. The blue haired girl emptied and refilled the bath making sure to use extra bubbles this time, she swirled the warm water in her hands to make them fizz.

“Y-You can get in…” She said covering her eyes and in a few moments the blonde was staring her down while rubbing the blood flecks off her face. It was tense on both sides neither was sure what to say to each other, Neru was obviously mad about what happened at the shop but guilty for unintentionally hurting Gumi…What a mess.

“So you’re-“Miku began not sure how to word the questions busting about inside her.

“I’m sorry, ok!?”

“…What?”

“I’m not saying it twice!” She said in a yelling whisper as to not wake the blue eyed girl’s sleeping housemate. “You know what I mean!”

“I-“

“I’m sorry for yellin’ at you, I-I was jealous, ‘kay!?” She was now as red as the blood that had been stuck to her face, she was trying to cover it up with her long hair to no avail. “And for ignorin’ ya on the phone…” she got quieter….

“I shoulda given’ you the ‘benefit of the doubt’, y’know?”

“and I-“ Neru continued earnestly.

“And nothing. What’s done is done, as long as everyone is safe that’s what matters.”  The girl leaned over and pushed the long blonde strands away “Gumi is alive and your anger didn’t hinder that.”

“But what if it did!?”

“It didn’t. That’s what matters.”

_Why can’t you be this forgiving with your own mistakes, huh?_

“Now why don’t you tell me when you became a doctor?” She laughed.

Neru gave an awkward and unsure smile “grew up on a battle field…My brother was a nurse and he taught me since I was never squeamish, enjoyed hurting myself just to fix it.”

“It was just fascinating to me.” Her eyes became wistful letting the anger edge away. “But, something happened and I moved here and got a job. I’ve been a tailor for a few years now came here when I was fourteen.” _She’s just a lost kid…Kind of like me…a lost new adult…_ ”What about you, since when’d you become the neighborhood hooker?”

“E-Excuse me? How-“

“Someone recognized you from that club and that you were living with the “Panda Hero”…So news spread fast.”

“They don’t think I’m-“

“Her new toy? Yeah…No one’s upset about it, except me I guess.” Neru shrugged indifferently.

_Well I suppose that could be a problem…I hope Gumi doesn’t know…_

_How did I end up selling myself? It was kind of spur of the moment wasn’t it? Someone asked if that’s why I was at the bar and I said yes_ “Well I became the ‘neighborhood hooker’ when people started recognizing me as the neighborhood beggar…”

“What about before that?”

“What do you mean?” She said puzzled at the question.

“Why are you here, Miku?”

_Why am I here…? I really tried too hard to not think about this._ She winced at the flash of memories, _I’m so stupid._ “…I’m…running away to look for myself, I guess.”

“And this is where I ended up.” _This primitive dump of a planet._

The blonde hummed and relaxed against the edge of the tub, _she looks so much older…I wonder what she’s running from too…_ the girl suddenly began to feel insecure about this meeting… _I haven’t talked about ‘why’ to anyone…Much less someone who hates me and nearly let Gumi die, even though it was an accident…_ “Do you want lunch?” Miku suddenly longed for the familiarity that the bagged gels would offer, the bath was beginning to feel unpleasantly foreign.

“Yeah, you can get out first I won’t watch or nothin’.” Neru turned her back and examined her nails and the blue haired girl toweled off and pulled the T-Shirt over her head and put on some clean underwear from the dresser. She shut the door so the other girl could get out and tiptoed across to the kitchen. She got out a couple packets as gently as possible and set them on the counter with the stools on one side, they were uncomfortable but she didn’t want to sit on the floor by her roommate at risk of waking her up.

She looked over and eyed her roommate, still breathing, still safe, and still asleep. She couldn’t comprehend why she was so worried, before the only thing that kept her attached to Gumi was the apartment and general curiosity…now she felt that she had taken the girl for granted. But it only gave her more questions…more-

“K-Kid…?” A weak gravelly voice came from the other side of the room as Neru came out of the bathroom “…Neru?” She was desperately confused and attempted to sit up before grabbing her stomach and groaning in pain. The amber eyed girl ran to her side laying her back down.

“Did you wake her up?” The girl whispered harshly at Miku.

“No! I-“

“I had a nightmare.” The hero finished “I guess it was real.” She gave a cocky smile before cringing at the pain.

“What time is it Neru…? Shouldn’t you be at you post?”

“Well I…stayed all night and-“

“Is no one there!?” The green haired girl suddenly became panicked.

“No! No…Haku took over for me but…”

“Get to work Neru I’m fine now.”

She put a hand on the girls arm “Text me how to tend to this…” She gestured to her side “when you get there.”

The blonde nodded somberly looking disappointed…Before grabbing a pack from the counter and her bag and jogging out to go resume her shift. “So...” the blue eyed girl grabbed a pack of bite sized gels from the counter and came to plop down on the bed “Ready for some lunch?”

“Oh yessss…” The girl was nearly drooling as she snatched the bag from her hands and began stuffing her face. _She’s bed ridden now…you can do whatever you want…you could take her out and keep the house…you could turn her in…_

_But I’m not._

_I just want to talk to her._

_I just want to be her friend._

“Look…Gumi…” She started avoiding eye contact “I know it’s only been a bit over a week but…Could you tell me who Panda Hero is? I-I just have…so many q-questions and-“

“I can’t.” She answered decidedly.

_What?_ “…you can’t?”

“No…I don’t want to put you in danger…” She stared intently at the wall showing no emotion.

_Does she even understand the idiocy that’s coming out of her mouth!? Ugh, how could I even think of **trying** to befriend her!? _“Don’t compliment yourself, “Panda Hero.” You’re not that pure-hearted! I’m already in danger because of your antics!” 

“You took me in _publicly_ and now everyone knows we live together, you locked me in you apartment like it was no big deal-what if I had fallen and broke my legs, huh? You got yourself stabbed through and through like an imbecile and didn’t think twice about how I’d feel with blood on my hands!” She was hissing up a storm at this point, you could practically see the steam rising off of her.

Gumi blinked her ruddy eyes shocked into silence.

“Everyone knows who _you_ are except for me! It’s driving me insane, it’s like you’re lacking a sense of self-awareness!” She huffed crossing her arms. _Maybe I’m getting too serious but this is really the only thing that keeps us from getting closer…_

_Maybe **I’m** the one that needs a friend…_

“You really don’t know who I am…”

“I just said that!”

“No…I mean most people are scared of me. They wouldn’t have said any of that…Not like you anyway…” She sighed “I’m not very threatening up close and personal, am I?”

“You can’t answer a question with a question.” She was beginning to become more exasperated than angry.

“I…”Panda Hero” it’s just a nickname…I grew up in this city, it’s dangerous so I learned how to defend myself and my friends…as a teenager gangs start to recruit and the police does too it’s nothing new.” The green haired girl fiddled with the edge of the blanket absent mindedly.

“But the whole wanting to protect my friend’s thing got political because of that…now _I’m_ the neighborhood police force for hire…along with a lot of old friends and new recruits…”

“The cops don’t see it that way of course, they’re too caught up with their own shit to get their heads out of their asses anyway.” She scoffed.

“I’m out all day just keeping people safe and sometimes that requires fighting, not all the time since my crew spreads enough rumors false and true about me to make people run on the spot…really I’m just trying to help people survive in this shithole.”

“That’s it…it’s nothing fancy.” She finished.

_That…seems pretty fancy…but it doesn’t matter I’ll try my best!_

“Can I help?” _It would be nice to have a purpose in this wasteland…But I suppose making a friend should come first…I guess I’m rushing into this though…and I’m generally useless anyway._ She sighed.

“…It’s going to take some training.”

“That’s okay I’m pretty athletic!” She liked to run and tussle with her brother for most of her childhood.

“No, no. I think you’d make a great spy.”

“A spy…?” _That sounds…dangerous, didn’t she just want to keep me safe? I guess I sound determined._

“Yes your voice it’s…Like a trance, with some training I’m sure you can lie and manipulate perfectly!”

_Was that a compliment!?_ “…Thank you?” _I guess it’s kind of nice to be valued for something other than my body but…_

“Your welcome…Can I go back to sleep now? I’ll call Miki and Luo, we can get started tomorrow.”

“Ah…Sure I’ll just-“

She was already snoring.

 


	6. The Game Plan

Miku had spent the rest of the day scrubbing out blood stains the best she could and organizing the fridge three times over, she just couldn’t find herself satisfied with it. After going over the stains for umpteenth time she finally got bored enough to start pressing the buttons on the phone to make little songs, she then realized that there was a text on it.

“ **Neru Akita:**

hi (^3^)/ pls apply the liquid from the pink bottle (on the counter) onto the stitches gently!!! then re-bandage, 2x a day pls (>3<)b lol if theres any bleeding call me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gtg”

The girls blue eyes widened in disgust and shock, how is it that she’s so hot-headed in real life but sounds like an over excitable twelve year old over text? Maybe it was because she was expecting Gumi to see this…? Maybe she was just a bit of an oddball. Miku examined the keys on the phone and attempted to relpy it took her around ten minutes to figure it out and type it in…It turns out she was kind of fat fingered with cell phones.

“ **Panda:**

Thank you. /’(0u0)’\”

She followed Neru’s lead and added a small face at the end, _It has my hair!_ She smiled herself thinking she was finally ready to get some real not-in-the-hallway kind of sleep. She walked over and got curled up under the covers…they were warm already because Gumi had been there all day…they smelled like chemicals and blood because of her too. She scooted closer out of fear the other girl might stop breathing and she wouldn’t be able to tell, she knew there wasn’t any punctured lung…but after their conversation today she felt…closer…

She felt like her most burning questions had been taken into account, which was relieving and felt better than the daily chats about nothing in particular. She…was a little excited to be by the side of the “Panda Hero” the girl was obviously more than what Miku had originally taken her for…even though those personality traits didn’t just disappear…

At these thought she fell softly into sleep in tune with Gumi’s breathing.

She was fourteen again. _Another dream_ …she opened her mouth and no sound came out and her movements were slow and sluggish. Her mother came into the room by her side was her younger brother…Their faces were twisted up and…wrong.

They sat by her bedside and placed a holo in front of her, she was sixteen in the pictures. She remembered the day perfectly as the voices rung through the room.

“You can’t be a singer…your voice it’s too…”

“Too odd, we don’t want you in interviews either.”

“You’re too honest, we’ll keep you as back up, okay?”

“Yeah your face is nice but…”

The men surrounded her at the dumb talent audition at the local agency, she hated them.

“Look how **useless** you grow up to be!” Her mother cooed.

The pictures changed to her first job interview, the agency had tried to get her into one of those stupid soaps as a backdrop character…Her first chance at a speaking role.

“Pretty face…” The man said “You could lose some weight though…”

In the pictures her face was sour trying to stay silent, she remembered the feeling all too well.

“So, education?” He asked going over her medical records.

“It’s right there on the paper.” She spat, hating it…she had no education…this bed is where she woke up…already fourteen with no direction and no memories beyond muscle memory.

“C’mon smile…you won’t get hired if you’re going to be rude to me.” He looked down at the holo “Ah…nothing…and you’re amnesic, depressed, dissociative…we can’t have a girl like that working here…”

“Those were in the past!” She pleaded, she wanted this opportunity so badly. The girl in the bed sighed watching these dreaded memories.

“ **Useless! Useless!** ” her brother cheered.

The pictures changed to four years later, she’d been working diligently but now had many questions about her past. This was her twentieth birthday, the day her mom said she would tell her…about her…

The voice was crystal clear, it was late at night when she handed Miku a piece of paper…real paper…

“This is from your father.” She said in a wispy tone.

“…my father?”

“Yes I…loved a man very much and he gave me you…I raised you like my own.”

“Where…am I from then?”

_Where am I from?_ She was still bothered by this…Even though she could go a few days without thinking about it now and then.

“Read it.”

Eighteen year old Miku looked done at the paper in her hands “If you want to find yourself…Go to the moon of Neo-Earth…”

She looked up counfused “Isn’t that just the gaudy tourist attraction…? He has to know no one leaves or enters this planet right?”

“Miku…apparently _you_ did. That’s all I know…he just showed up with a case one day…told the movers it was ‘imported furniture’ and you were in it…frozen…”

“Frozen? How…”

The screen cut out and the room became black. There were no more dreams that night

 

\-------------

 

“Rise and shine!” a voice squealed…Miku was suddenly very cold…

“Eek!” She yelped opening her eyes to Miki leaning over her with the blanket in her hands.

“Time for breakfast!” She smiled, Gumi held up a bag in acknowledgement perched on a stool, there was the woman…the one who she’d seen in the market place and led her home. She looked rather indifferent and awkward like she would run at any moment. _Luo…she must be Luo._

_Ah Neru’s text!_ “Gumi…I need to re-bandage you.” The other girl looked confident.

“I can do it myself.”

“No you can’t come sit down here, I’ll get the stuff she left.” The hero complied a bit embarrassed that she had to appear so vulnerable in front of the others. She settled down on the blankets crossing her legs and frowning, munching on the food she’d gotten for the blue haired girl.

She returned and set out the disinfectant, cotton, and bandages. She pulled the other girls shirt off, now that she could examine her body in the light it seemed that she was covered in scars some were huge others were smaller and shallow. She looked like a city map with roads flowing all over.

“Quit staring.” She huffed and Miku blushed, _oops…_

Irritated that she’d been called out she hastily took off the bandages and stuffed her forearm in Gumi’s mouth. “Wha-“ She applied the disinfectant confidently this time using a swab instead of pouring it everywhere, that didn’t keep the panda hero from biting down. Hard. She coolly cleaned it, feeling so much more relaxed than the night when she was confronted with all the blood and wrapped it up, the other girls were laughing in the background at Gumi’s unfortunately low pain tolerance.

“All done!” She smiled pulling her arm from the girl’s mouth and shaking it out before grabbing a handful of jellies. The dark circles under the girl’s red eyes were all the more apparent when she was frustrated and embarrassed, she yanked her shirt on making an obvious show that she didn’t want to be babied.

Luo snorted at this, and Miki grabbed her bag and came to sit with them to change the conversation. “So hero told me you’re going to be a spy!” She grinned excited.

“…maybe, I need training, that’s why you’re here right?” She asked twirling her hair.

“Yes!” She took off her backpack a spilled out it’s contents a large rolled up map, a bunch of colored pens, a couple of folders stuffed with papers, and some crudely painted plastic figurines.

“Haha.” She rubbed her neck bashfully “I was really excited about this…”

“I see that…” Miku said eying the figures, she picked up a bright blue one “Is this supposed to be me?”

The cyborg plucked it from her hands “You’ll see!” She then flattened out the map and placed the objects to the side. Luo looked at the blue haired girl with a distrustful but curious expression, she seemed highly tuned in to what Miku was feeling… _is she a mind reader!?_

“How’s your knowledge on politics, Miku?” The woman asked turning to watch the cyborg play around with the figurines…she seemed to have forgotten the task at hand.

“Not great…I didn’t go to school…” She hated to admit it especially after reliving some of her least favorite moments in her dream last night but it was true.

Luo’s face became gentler at this “That’s okay, tell me what you do know and we’ll fill in the gaps.”

“Um…” She looked around nervously all Luo and Gumi were staring at her intently “Um…well we have a ruler that’s been instated for a while…she replaced the last one the year I was born…can’t forget that…haha.” She gulped “my mom said that the man who invented the memory chips…the things rich people get to live forever…and stuff…invented a breed of human that could know everything…”

“So the rulers are those humans and are kind of like our prophets? Because they only come about every once in a while, y’know…” The other girls waited for her to continue.

“That’s…it…I mean I know there’s government officials on the planets she controls and sometimes there’s communication with the police force…” She finished hoping that was enough to satisfy.

“That is the bare bones to it…” The black haired girl frowned “Where did you come from? The last ruler instituted a form of planet where everything is censored for the sake of using the people in number crunching desk jobs…”

“Ah, I came from Oxxia…” The planet she had come from had been cold and artificial not a shred of life was to be seen, there was no weather, no nature, and everything was brightly lit…there wasn’t even any crime because you never heard about it…people would just disappear. Everything was monitored unless you were an official (like her mother had been) or got them removed illegally…her family had been on the wealthier side so it was possible she didn’t see a lot of the stuff the planet had to offer. “Yeah, it was one of the new age colonies to increase production in certain areas…we were entertainment…”

The Panda Hero nodded knowing the name and Miki perked up “Ah! That’s in my database!” She smiled at Luo.

“She’s a cyborg, I had a few things installed, no harm in that!” She said defensively.

Miki projected a screen onto the wall through a disc on her hand it showed pictures of the planet, they were terribly dull and riddled with propaganda...it explained the planet fairly well…”how did you get out…?” The red head asked puzzled “it says here that planets like this are locked for coming and going for the first five hundred years…unless you’re an inanimate object of course.” She shut off the screen put into a bad mood by how boring Miku’s home planet ended up being.

“Well there’s a day every year where a huge ship comes in and people sell and trade…I spent like…six years? Planning how I’d get on it…”

”my dad wanted me to go to the moon here but I ended up down in the slums somehow…” She sighed looking down at her feet.

The other three looked at each other “It’s funny you’d mention that…” Gumi said in awe “the moon is where the ruler is rumored to live…”

The cyborg nodded “That’s why there’s so much gang activity, because they’re just violent political groups…”

“Rumored?” _They don’t actually know!?_

“Yeah, if people knew where she lived and what she looked like she’d be good as dead, right?” Miki asked. “And don’t worry about it being a baseless rumor…it’s not…there’s a lot to back it up…”

_Too late I’m worried_ she sighed “Let’s…just get started…”

“Oh yes!” The red-eyed cyborg patted the mat excitedly, it was a very detailed map of the city. The seal stated it was government official quality, she didn’t want to ask where they got it from. She placed the green and blue pieces on the west side of town and the baby blue and red pieces at the south east…She pulled out a blue marker “The blue means good!” She circled the tailors and the tiny alleyway in addition to a number of random out posts and underground entrances “These are just in case, you don’t have to remember them or anything.”

She took out a green colored pencil and drew a large and wonky shape around the tailor’s “This is hero’s territory in addition to the underground!” she picked out a few more colors yellow, purple, black, and pink…

She held up the pink one and make a few small circles with lines down the roads “Police outposts, they patrol a bit of the city…sometimes they get cocky but other than that they’re not much to worry about.” She jot down times and dates in the margins and circled it in pink “This is when they patrol, Luo always checks for changes just in case!”

The woman nodded “Their presence above the clouds in wealthy society is brutal…sometimes they catch small time criminals and take them up there just too publicly execute them and show and wrong-doers what they’ve got coming.”

Miki snatched up the yellow and made a big circle in the North West “the Kagamine twins run the show over here, no one’s really sure who their leader is, but they’re very charismatic for subordinates and get a lot of people to join their cause that way.” She placed to yellow figures and circled around a random warehouse “Their castle, it’s very well guarded and the residences around it are kind of cult like…their whole gimmick is that a ‘true prophet worthy of the throne’ has been created and they’ve got to overthrow the ruler for divine serenity.”

“Those two are wild, you can’t tell if they mean divine serenity to be peaceful governing, no execution, and rights for aliens and robots...or if it’s mass murder of the populous so no one suffers.” The green haired girl added “I’d kill too know who they’re protecting in that castle as much as I rag on their ideas…”

The raven haired woman hummed in agreement “…Lily?” she asked the cyborg.

“Oh yes!” She drew a black square in the center of the city with various out posts at it’s corners “we’ve gotta bit of an alliance with-“

Luo tsk’ed “ _we’re_ not in alliance with anyone, that’s our job. _Gumi’s_ in alliance.”

“Ah…y-yeah, hero has an alliance with Lily, she’s a political radical with a small but ruthless following.” She frowned “most of us are scared of her…she want’s good things…mostly economic equality and the abolishment of immortality and memory selling…”

“But she’ll murder to get them, we’ve all seen it happen, she’s a loose cannon.” Gumi said.

“You’re not much better.” Luo muttered.

The Panda Hero was shocked… _she killed someone…_

“You…killed someone…” Her blue eyes widened. “Like gone forever…?”

“No!” The hero yelped “No. I-It was a mistake…”

“Luo I can’t apologize enough, why do you torture me like this!?” Her face went to her hands.

“We’ll finish up tomorrow.” The woman concluded standing to look down at the girl’s hunched over form.

“B-But it’s only been-“Miki started.

She grabbed the cyborg by the arm and escorted them both out the door slammed shut…

”G-Gumi…?” She whispered laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Get…away.” She said pushing away the hand, she began to dig her nails into her face pulling on the skin “Get away! I’m disgusting!”

“Stop it!” She tried to pry her hands away from her face, _why is she hurting herself!? Did I do this? Why did that awful woman bring it up…?_

“No! No…nonononono…” she began to cry and stopped struggling against the girl’s grasp…her head fell into Miku’s lap “I’m s-sorry…” she sniffed “I’m so horrible, w-why did I let you near me…?”

“Because you’re not horrible…” _You were an annoying cocky imbecile…but at heart you’re…_ ”You’re a hero…”

“I’m not!” her body tensed up “I-I’m a murderer, I’m…mm too sensitive…I’m u-useless, I’ll...never be good enough…”

Miku tried hard not to react to the murderer comment…it scared her but if there’s anything that’s important to understanding Gumi’s character it was context “Who told you this…?”

“My brother…Luo…L-Luka…” _Luka…? Isn’t that? No. Must be a coincidence…_

“Well. They’re all lying dick-wads who’re taking their own issues on the only good person in this fucking wasteland.” She added a laugh at the end…She just wanted the girl to stop crying.

The hero grew quiet her face still buried in Miku’s lap her she grabbed onto the girl’s shirt tightly…

“G-Gumi…?” She sighed “do you…hate yourself…?”

A sniff “yeah…”

“Is that why your room was messy…? Is that why you came home to die…?” she asked softly petting the girl’s fluffy hair.

“Yeah.” She sounded so hopeless.

“Can you tell me about this murderer business?”

“No. I don’t w-want you to h-hate me too!” she sobbed choking back tears.

“Please…Gumi…I want to help…”

She whispered before saying it louder “Miki…I killed M-Miki…we were kids…it was a-an a-accident, I thought she was a t-target and I was so enraged it was meant to be revenge…but it was really just a misunderstanding…”

“She’s alive though.” Miku couldn’t help but show her confusion.

“I rebuilt her body…she’s a c-cyborg now, she doesn’t have any m-memories…” she cried hard at this “She’s still the same girl b-but neither o-of use have the guts to t-tell her…”

“Look, I can’t remember **fourteen** years of my life, but I don’t even have the capacity to give a shit about it because I don’t remember it!” She said this adamantly un-sticking the other girl’s face from her lap “You’re not a murderer and you’re not disgusting, humans make mistakes! Even big mistakes!”

She blushed “You can still be loved!” _Did I really just say that!? E m b a r r a s s I n g !!!!!!_

“I don’t hate you! I’ve _seen_ you…I _saw_ you bleeding your guts out two nights ago and realized I wanted to be on your side!”

“I won’t lie” She curled her fingers on Gumi’s scalp “I hate myself too…It’s why folks like us gotta stick together!”

“…” The green haired girls face was squished in between Miku’s palms she blinked surprised “I…y-you…you hate yourself?”

“Of course! I’ve spent my whole life being told my voice was useless!” She shouted “I have days where I think all my worth lies in this stupid body!”

“But my voice matters…so does yours!”

They sat there staring at each other never expecting this deep an understanding to be wrought between the two of them, the red eyed girl pulled her face back and grasp the other’s hand forcefully.

“Let’s…stick together…from now on”

“From now on?”

“From now on.”

 


	7. Quiet Conversations

The rest of the day was spent in each other’s company snuggled up under several blankets they told stories to each other about what it’s like to live while sad and scared…they were shocked that they found solace in one another since both the first impressions hadn’t been stellar. The thin light that was cast upon the room felt like a dome of safety around them… _how was that we ever met? We’re from different planets…different classes…different personalities…different lives…_ Miku wondered this listening to the stories coming excitedly from the other girl’s mouth…tales of childhood and tales of teenage struggles. Somehow she relished in the stories she told about being a kid… _I wish I could remember a time in my life when I was care free…_

It was nearing dinner time, the blue haired girl got out of their cocoon shivering “It’s so cold!” she squealed running to the fridge for food and back immediately.

The hero laughed before scarfing down half of what she’d grabbed, more cherry flavor it seemed. She got her fair share before getting the medical supplies…a new bandage.

“Ugh, again? I’m sure we can do this once a day instead…” Gumi groaned.

“Just for tonight then! It’s better to be safe than get a horrible infection and die!” She smiled cheerfully driving the point home.

“…ok.” She said no longer putting up a fight and saying she could ‘do it herself’ like this morning, she took her shirt off again wincing as she was sitting up.

Miku gently removed the bandages looking at the scars…there were so many crisscrossing and intertwining…on her back and chest were inked lines as well…cut up tattoos.

“Hey, what’s this from…?” She pointed at a huge scar that kicked her shoulder and dug down her back, she ran her finger down it fascinated.

“Ah…a fight with my brother…trust me when I say he had it worse though…” she laughed weakly probably not fond of the memory.

“What about…these ones!” she pointed to three healed stab wounds on her left side.

“…That was a really shitty day…” she frowned trying to remember the details “I used to only uh…well…I…I only would fight if people payed me…in opiates…and the neighborhood dealer thought I was selling his stuff at a higher price.”

_Opiates…?_ “What’s an opiate?”

“Uh…it’s like the stuff people use in memory dens…but before those existed?” she said unsure of how to properly explain it “I’m over it now I started taking money a few years ago after Luo got on my ass about it…”

“I see…” _I don’t want to be judgmental but if it’s anything like implanting false memories…I’m glad she’s over it…”_ what about all the little ones?”

“…” she looked a bit uncomfortable “when I was…thirteen I did that to myself…” _Oh she didn’t tell me…maybe I should stop asking_ about _this stuff._

Miku looked over the other girl’s body…she had “Panda Hero” down her left arm, a creepy figure of a girl on her other arm, a yellow bird on her left shoulder blade, and a black X on her tail bone…they were all in various states of disrepair.

“I’m sorry I asked…” She said dabbing the disinfectant onto a cloth.

“No…no it’s okay…we’re both tired…” Gumi said this as though it was an excuse.

She shoved her forearm in the hero’s mouth again before adding the disinfectant, it went better this time…hopefully she was getting used to it.

“W-why does that stuff hurt so badly!?” She muttered letting the blue haired girl wrap it up.

“New age technology comes at a price…?” She responded unsure herself.

“I would not consider _this_ new age.”

Miku giggled “So whiny…” the hero’s face turned red at this.

“Am not!”

“Oh…Childish too?” she teased.

“Shut it, kid.” She flopped down and pulled the blankets over her head hiding herself.

_Still with this ‘kid’ business?_ “Hmph!” She turned off the light then flung the covers up and crawled into the cave. “You can run but you can’t hide!”

“…” The green haired girl sighed “…creep.”

“Eh!?” _I’m not creepy! She’s the creepy one!_

The hero laughed at this quite hard, she was having trouble breathing. _You’re going to be in bed way longer if you keep this up…_ ”Owowowwow!” she said breathlessly.

Miku smiled getting comfortable and yawned, “I’m not going to be able to sleep if you keep that up, Gumi…”

“Haha…okay…whew…” a long exhale…

“’Night, Miku.”

“Good night.”

They were full and...Happy…even after crying and awkwardness…it felt good, they fell asleep contented.

 

_Ugh…so loud…_ someone was banging on the door while both of them were barely conscious, when she realized what was going on she jumped out of bed and ran to the door. She opened it after unlocking the multiple locks Gumi had installed on the inside.

The cyborg was standing there with no one else “Where’s Luo?” she asked sticking her head out the door to check.

“She’s…not coming today…she said a lot of mean stuff about hero yesterday.” She went quiet “I didn’t even know s-she thought any of it…”

“Oh, Miki…I’m sorry.” She opened the door wide to let her in.

“It’s okay I want to finish up…and help you…I think you’re going to be a really good asset to hero…” the red head wandered inside to find that everything was just as she left it.

“Is…she okay?” Miki eyed the snoring green haired girl.

“Yeah, we talked about it.” Miku looked over at her “She’s gonna be better than okay.”

_Yeah…she will be…_ “Ah-where did we leave off again? It was ‘Lily’ wasn’t it?” she asked sitting down by the map and placing the figures in standing up positions.

“…yeah…” Miki agreed “She’s not someone I’d worry about unless you met her or her higher ups face to face…she can be reckless and doesn’t really care about alliances…” she picked up the black figurine “and you’ll know her when you see her…the Kagamine’s and her are from another planet the three of them are pale, blonde, and…” she bit her lip and looked at her feet “Kind of hot…?”

“Why would…would they come from another planet?” the blue haired girl questioned.

“If they really thought they could over throw our ruler neo-Earth would be the best place! There’s gangs all over this planet…but this is a port city a one way ship straight to the moon comes once a day…and above the slums is the capital of this country…”

“It’s perfect, which makes it risky!” She placed the black figure back down like she was pounding her fist on a hypothetical table. _She’s very serious about all this…_

“Then we have Gackupo, Kaito, and Meiko…” She drew a purple shape in the North East “That’s uh...” she whispered “hero’s older brother…they don’t really get along…”

Miku nodded _, I can’t help but wonder, why?_

“They want to abolish the ruler system completely and have every planet govern separately with no contact…they think that if this continues “un-intelligent” races will gain higher standing and start integrating with humans like they have on the other side of the galaxy…”

“Whoa…” _he is a total dick!_

“Because of this they…they don’t like artificial races or the idea of switching bodies outside of necessity….”

“So they want to kill…the ruler?” _That’s not surprising but the reasoning is a little ridiculous…_

“Yeah…Look I don’t like them very much even though I have to serve them…I get harassed every time t-they come i-into the shop…”

“Miki…” _mega dicks…no wonder Gumi told me he got it worse…_

“No, it’s no big deal.” She pointed to the green figure “let’s talk about hero now…”

“She’s there as padding between the other groups pretty much, she agrees with Lily in ideas just not as extreme. She’s not a very political person she just wants to keep innocents safe…sometimes I think the idea that there’s a whole universe she can’t protect really gets to her sometimes…” she waved her hands frantically “don’t say I said that, okay!”

“She doesn’t have too, Miki…” the Panda Hero yawned scratching her head it made her hair stick straight up, _she needs a bath…_

Miku snorted and the cyborg had apparently loaded the ‘holy shit I’m so dead’ file. “I’m not mad, it _does_ bother me…I’d only be mad if you said that to somebody who didn’t know my weaknesses already.”

“You two really are getting along aren’t you?” she said curiously.

“Yeah, she decided to stop bitching once I was impaled.” Gumi chuckled her eyes lit up with mischief.

“Um, excuse me? Who’s bitching?” _Two can play at that game!_

Miki looked on the brink of tears “N-no! No m-more fighting!” she said and bear hugged the blue haired girl as if to restrain her.

“No…we weren’t fighting…that was uh…playing?” she looked at the hero for help and she shrugged, _great, my hero._

“You don’t do that with Luo?” _maybe I shouldn’t have swore in front of her…_

_Miku she’s not five!_

“Eh…? Of course not, we don’t talk outside of work.” She pulled herself off of Miku confused.

_How…is that even possible?_ “But you live together!?”

The red head sighed “She works most of the day and likes quiet time…plus whenever I try to make a joke or even smile…she gets all red and won’t look at me!”

Blue and red eyes met panicked having a silent conversation _“Is she for real?” “that’s so gross…Luo with emotions?” “I know right?” “What do we do?”_ Unfortunately they had no idea what to do.

“Eh…hehe-Uh, let’s get back to business, okay” Hero said probably as awkwardly as possible “we can talk about this later, right?”

“Oh yeah! That’s it territory wise, I’ve also circled and labeled any important outposts and housing…um…in the upper levels of the city Lily has a surprising amount of power but the police mainly have everything under control up there…”

“People like hero, the twins, and Gakupo & Co. aren’t really relevant to people who’ve been watered down and manipulated…” she murmured continuing to mark the map meticulously, she finished and then picked up the folders to thrust them upon Miku.

“These detail the security of every marked building, I’ll number them and the pages if you’d like.” She offered.

“Yes please…” _Contrary to popular belief I do not have a photographic memory..._ the cyborg got to work labelling, “Is that my crash course?” she asked.

“That’s your crash course, but that doesn’t mean much-you’ll learn more from field experience.” The red head clarified.

“A-already!?” _I barely know anything!_

“Of course, I can’t even go to the bathroom without you shouldering half of my weight!” Gumi remarked “besides I have a feeling you’ll be a natural…”

“I agree with that whole-heartedly!” Miki cheered without looking up from her work.

“…” The red eyed girl’s eyes darted around the room “Miki you don’t have a whole heart…it’s only half bio material.”

“I agree with that hypothetically whole-heartly!” she retorted with no less enthusiasm.

All three of them laughed, “Ok all done” the cyborg smiled “ready for another crash course?”

Miku groaned, but in reality she was…kind of excited…

 

\--- 

 

A few days had gone by since then, Miki would diligently arrive in the morning to educate Miku the subtle details in this cities culture and coming up with a plan for her small task…she would have to infiltrate the Kagamine’s circuit as they would be least likely to recognize her and then she would gather information.

The cyborg had in her possession a memory chip player that would scan the blue haired girl’s memories…honestly she was more scared of having her chip taken out and being left unconscious for a few minutes than she was of the mission. It was simple enough to integrate yourself into a cult non-dangerously but…having someone else touch your entire life…and trusting them no to break it was… _too much!_

But today was not like the others, Gumi would be preparing her for the mission. The girl was intricately doing Miku’s long silky hair into a knot at the bottom of her scalp which she put a bun scrunchie on and gave her a white head covering with a hole for her hair…no more blue but it was convenient…there was ear padding built into the head covering which was perfect for masking any communication devices The Panda Hero would want to give her.

Neru was there as well with a newly made white dress, it was beautiful…long sleeves and a turtle neck top that tightened at an empire waist and came down just enough to cover everything, there were white leggings and a pair of grey boots in addition to this. The blonde was making alterations, _I swear she’s stabbing me with those needles on purpose._

“Quit ye’r squirming!” she snapped.

“I’m not squirming!” She was…being so close to Gumi in front of Neru made her feel…weird…Miku wished she would stop touching her face and fixing stray hairs.

The hero stepped back to see her handy work, _thank goodness…._

“You look beautiful!” She grinned, _sleazy…but in an endearing way._ Neru heard this an in response stuck the blue haired girl extra hard on reflex, she winced but didn’t want to draw attention to it.

“Eh!? T-Thank you, b-but that doesn’t matter to the mission…” she squeaked trying to get the conversation back on hand.

“Uh’course it does! Idiot!” the amber eyed girl grumbled “You’re playing a foreign princess who’s lost faith! Princesses are always pretty! Plus if we play that up they’ll be more inclined to tell you stuff”

“Why’s that?” _why a princess…? I’m used to ‘sexy kitty’…ugh sexy kitty prin-_

“Well to the primitive mind, pretty=dumb, they might slip up around you because they dunno you’re smart…” she trailed off getting focused on the knot she was tying before biting the excess off “annndd…you’re done!”

She looked down at her ensemble feeling…kind of happy with herself…but “You really think they’ll buy this?” to her It felt a little…far-fetched.

“I know it’s-“ the hero began only to be interrupted.

“They’re not just going to buy this-they’re gunna pre-order that shit in bulk! There is no chance they won’t believe you…our issue is whether you can do your part right...and make them keep believing you.”

Gumi walked over after Neru stood up and placed a hand on Miku’s shoulder “So…It’s only been a couple’a weeks…I know…but…I’m going to miss you, kid” she leaned in and squeezed the other girl “Come back in one piece please.”

She tentetivly wrapped her arms around her roommate…. _I feel like I know her, even though times been so short…I feel like I understand who she is and…_ she remembered their awkward first days, the strong desire to protect Gumi after she got hurt…the conversation they had about what its like…to hate yourself…and all the memories Gumi had shared with her.

It was overwhelming how attached to those small moments she was…she finally felt like there was…hope. Hope for the future. She hugged tighter and buried her face in the girl’s neck.

“Don’t act like I won’t come back!” she laughed “This’ll be easy! I’ll climb the ranks and soon I’ll rule the galaxy instead of all those dumbasses!”

The blonde scoffed irritate “and what do you plan to do then Ms. I-don’t-remember-fourteen-years-of-my-life-and-have-no-education-or-experiences-outside-my-landlocked-planet.”

_Specific…and fucking rude…_

”Hm…well have you executed for starters…” she laughed, Neru flashed a smile before squeezing her face together to pretend like she was angry.

“Don’t mess around, guys…” The hero sighed “Miku you’ve gotta get a move on, just take this.”

She placed a spiked knuckle cover in her bag “Just in case” the blue hared girl nodded hoping she wouldn’t have to use it.

“I guess I should get on before it’s the afternoon, it’ll be a pretty long walk…” she said staring into the hero’s red eyes.

“I’ll walk you there if you wanna, most of it is underground anyway…” Neru offered.

“I’d…like that…” she smiled “as long as Gumi is safe.”

“Oh, trust me, when I get back here there will be unending surveillance.”  She chuckled letting her tan nose crinkle.

And so they went, it felt weird to be leaving with knowing there would be an outcome. It was awkwardly quiet as they passed to the other side of the market place, it was lively and colorful as usual but the voices of others dissuaded them from talking. When they finally came out on the other side the poverty of this city really showed itself…leaks, mold, small creatures, strange plants, and trash…only some of the things that littered the large halls and alleys, their footsteps echoed…

“Hey…”

_She wants to talk?_ Her blue eyes turned to look at the girl.

“…none’uh this woulda happened if I made Gumi stay in that night…” _What does she mean? Is she still hung up on hanging up on me?_

“I run that office to keep people from comin’ in…and I could’ve stopped her from goin’ if I wanted, but I didn’t…I didn’t tell her about the border patrol from her brothers side either…because I was mad.”

_That’s what happened…? I hate him even more and I don’t know what the guy even looks like…but what did she have to be mad about?_

“I was mad that she picked you over me.” she seemed dreadfully ashamed “Disgusting, aren’t I?

“Now she’s convinced you to play into this stupid game where people die because they’re pissed about’a system that can’t change! Because she got hurt! _Because of me_!” she whispered hoarsely “what if you die…? It’ll all be my fault…stupid, _stupid_ Gumi…”

Miku stopped dead in her tracks letting the other girl stumble and turn around, _she’s so aggressive and then keeps all this in…no wonder she wanted to keep pricking me with needles…she’s alone all day with only Gumi and a co-worker on a completely different shift to talk to. It’s not surprising she can’t be kind and honest up front…it just ends up exploding out when she doesn’t know how to keep it in._

She sighed “There’s nothing ‘disgusting’ about jealously and anger, especially when this outcome wasn’t in your control, Neru.”

“I’m happy to be a part of Gumi’s life, you will learn to respect that. I’m happy to have a purpose that wasn’t given to me before, you don’t have to worry about it. And I have a feeling…” she looked up at the ceiling imagining the shining moon of this planet “I’ll get to my real goal sooner than I thought.”

“And if that feeling’s real I won’t die on a simple trip to talk to some weird cultists…”

The blonde was quiet, squinting her sharp eyes and scrunching up her mouth. She seemed unsure of what to say to her…she let out a breath and turned around to keep walking. “That makes me feel…a little better.” She laughed.

They continued on the silence far less awkward, more satisfied and anxious about ruining what felt like a crystal clear moment of understanding between each other. The surroundings didn’t seem to matter even if they got darker and soggier, there were less houses through here and if they came across one it was rather large to make up for the bad location…they soon entered a large cavern…

It had a few long lights strung up but was otherwise dark, the bridges that once crisscrossed the place were fallen or in dramatic disrepair…water poured from the holes dug to hold shops and the rock walkways along the edges had softened to allow these waterfalls…there was a buzz in the air from all the life growing in this dark pit. She realized that the whole floor was covered in water up to her knees, _what if they see the water on me and think I came through here?_ She grumbled taking off her shoes and pulling her leggings up. She and Neru waded through it on was quiet while Miku hissed every time her toes hit something slimy…or alive…she muffled her squeals as to not alert the entire complex (it was very echo-y.)

At the end was a well-lit stair case rising out of the pool, leading to the exit….the walk was longer than it felt...time really flew when her brain was thinking about so many things at once. “Thanks, I can take it from here!” she thanked the blonde.

She was already walking away trying to hide her concern “good luck!” she whistled.

_Time to go…who knew that the escape I was planning for six years would turn into this…_

She walked up the stairs determined to make things go her way…one way or another.

 

 


End file.
